That evening, after she had eaten dinner and finished all of her homework, Amelia Bedelia grabbed her three bananas and went out to the backyard. Her brain hurt from too much thinking. She still couldn’t hear herself think, but she could definitely feel it. She was thinking like Amelia Bedelia and trying to think like a monkey at the same time. If I were a monkey, she thought, what would I do all day? Where would I sleep?

She went into her garage to look for something that might catch a monkey. If she could actually capture a real, live monkey, her zoo would be the best ever. She found a long, skinny net, but that was for their badminton set. She found boxes, some garden stakes, and a spool of string. Next to a croquet set, she discovered a relic from her past—her car seat.

Amelia Bedelia sat down in it. She was way too big for it now, so it was a tight squeeze, but she fit. There was a harness, a snack holder, and a cup holder. She remembered that she hadn’t liked riding in it until her dad installed a horn in the snack holder. Beep-beep! It still worked. Amazing. She used to drive her mother crazy, beeping at every car she saw.

If I were a monkey, I would sit right here, thought Amelia Bedelia. It would be my recliner—just like Dad’s. I’d take naps in it. She put one of the bananas in the seat. She peeled another banana and left a trail of pieces from the side door of the garage to the tree near her bedroom window. Then she went inside to get ready for bed.

Amelia Bedelia brushed her teeth and put on her pajamas and kissed her parents good-night. Then she read two chapters in her book. She was just about to turn off the light when she remembered to put a banana on the ledge outside her window. She nudged her stuffed squirrel monkey to the side and was just opening the window when a face popped up on the other side of the glass.

“Yahhhhhhh!” screamed Amelia Bedelia, flinging the banana and her stuffed monkey into the air.

Seconds later, her mother and father ran into her room.

“What’s wrong?” asked her mother.

“I saw something!” said Amelia Bedelia. She sat on the bed hugging her mother while her father looked out the window, in the closet, and under the bed.

“The only thing I found is this banana,” he said, his shirt covered with dust bunnies.

Amelia Bedelia was still shaking. “I—I saw something moving outside,” she said.

Her father picked up the toy monkey and handed it to her. “Bitty baby baboon,” he said, “you’ve been eating too many bananas. Did you mistake this for a real monkey?”

Amelia Bedelia’s mother laughed and tucked in Amelia Bedelia and her monkey. “Good night, sweetie,” she said, “and good night, little imp.”

As soon as her parents turned off the light and closed her door, Amelia Bedelia slipped out of bed and looked out the window. She hoped she hadn’t scared the real monkey away. The moon was shining brightly down on the backyard zoo. She looked to the right and then to the left.

Right there! A real, live monkey was scampering on top of the garage and eating a banana. She almost yelled, “Yippee!” but her parents would have come running again, and she wasn’t ready to explain her plan to them. She hoped the monkey would discover her old car seat. She hoped he would be cozy in his recliner all night, dreaming of the tropical forest.