By Monday, Amelia Bedelia had beaten her flu bug and was back in school. She couldn’t wait to tell everyone about her Big Idea. But her classmates were still talking and laughing about their super-fun field trip. She felt bad—not sick, just left out.

“Class!” called out their teacher, Mrs. Shauk. She had long, pointy fingernails painted shiny red. Her nickname was “the Hawk,” because she saw everything, even with her back turned. “Settle down, please,” she said.

Feeling the gaze of the Hawk upon her, Amelia Bedelia sat up straighter.

“Amelia Bedelia,” said Mrs. Shauk, “we’re glad you are feeling better. We really missed you on the field trip, so we got you a souvenir from the gift shop.”

Suzanne presented Amelia Bedelia with a box decorated with pictures of animals. Everyone gathered around Amelia Bedelia’s desk as she opened it. Staring up at her from the tissue paper was the cutest plush monkey she’d ever seen! The gift made her feel a lot better. She gave the monkey a big hug and Suzanne a bigger hug. “Thanks for thinking of me,” she said to everyone.

“It’s a life-size squirrel monkey,” said Suzanne. “That’s the same kind that escaped from the zoo. It ran right by us!”

“I thought it was a baby,” said Chip.

“I thought it was you,” said Daisy.

“Oook-oook-chaboook!” chirped Chip.

Everyone burst out laughing. Mrs. Shauk clapped three times to restore order.

“Amelia Bedelia,” she said, “we have other exciting things to share with you. Before the trip, you were each assigned an animal to investigate. And now that you’ve seen the real thing, I want each of you to write a report about your animal. You can add pictures if you’d like, and be prepared to present your research to the class this afternoon.”

Amelia Bedelia had chosen monkeys as her animal. But she wondered how she was going to write her report if she hadn’t seen a real one at the zoo. Staring at the stuffed squirrel monkey perched on her desk, Amelia Bedelia got an idea. She would take the banana her mom had packed in her lunch box and show everyone how a monkey would peel it. She would be presenting something she’d seen a monkey do, even if it was only on TV.

“Feel free to share your writing with one another,” Mrs. Shauk said. “Make suggestions and helpful comments. But please, no reading aloud.”

No reading allowed? That made no sense to Amelia Bedelia. “If there’s no reading allowed,” she asked, “how will we know what anyone else wrote?”

“You’re allowed to read, but not aloud,” said Mrs. Shauk.

Amelia Bedelia wished Mrs. Shauk would make up her mind. Was reading allowed or not allowed?

“Can I read or not?” she asked.

“Of course,” said Mrs. Shauk. “I just need to be able to hear myself think.”

Amelia Bedelia was even more confused. She’d never, ever heard herself think, and now reading was not allowed. Amelia Bedelia hadn’t missed that many days of school, had she?

She felt lost and began wishing she had the flu again so she could go home. Amelia Bedelia got up to get her banana from her cubby so she could work on her report.

“Where are you going?” asked Mrs. Shauk.

“I need my banana for writing,” said Amelia Bedelia.

“Use your pencil, please,” said Mrs. Shauk. “It writes better than a banana.”

Everyone giggled as Amelia Bedelia sat back down. Now she couldn’t even write about peeling a banana. What should she do?

Aha! thought Amelia Bedelia. She would write about her Big Idea.

After lunch, everyone presented their reports. Amelia Bedelia learned many interesting facts about the animals at the zoo. When it was her turn, Amelia Bedelia stood up and read.

My Zoo by Amelia Bedelia

I was too sick to go to the zoo. I was very sad. So I set up my stuffed animals like they were in the zoo. I visited them in my room. That night, I dreamed there were animals in my backyard. There were all kinds of creatures, normal ones and weird ones. I dreamed that you all came to see them. Some of the animals where were your pets, but dressed up like they were wild. That is why I have decided to make a zoo in my backyard. Come over to my house after school and help me plan what it will look like and what animals will be in it. Bring your pets too, if you would like them to be in my zoo.

Amelia Bedelia sat down. The room was completely quiet. She picked up her squirrel monkey and tickled its ears. Did they think her report was dumb?

Finally Clay whistled. “That would be wild, Amelia Bedelia,” he said.

“I hope so,” said Amelia Bedelia. “That’s my plan.”

Amelia Bedelia had forgotten the best part, so she stood up again and added, “If you come over, I’ll show you how a monkey eats a banana. It’s really cool.”

Everyone cheered.

“Our field trip to the zoo isn’t over yet,” said Teddy. “It’s just moved to Amelia Bedelia’s backyard!”