How did you get the idea for cousin Amelia?
A reader wrote to me with the idea that Orville and Wilbur could have a cousin, a girl named Amelia after Amelia Earhart. The real Amelia Earhart, born in 1897, was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. I loved the idea of a cousin named after Amelia and started working on it right away. Amelia E. Hart, a new character was born!
How are Amelia Earhart and Amelia E. Hart alike?
Amelia Earhart was a spunky tomboy who loved animals (and wasn’t afraid of dogs). She made up elaborate imaginative games and took big risks, like riding in a homemade roller coaster. Amelia E. Hart has a pet rubber snake, loves bugs, and is the only one who isn’t afraid of Doom, the fiercest dog in the hood. She has a great imagination and is ready for adventure.
Amelia E. Hart is my fictional creation, so I created the details of her life. When Wilbur asks what Amelia was like as a baby, Lydia Riot tells a story about their little cousin finding a pigeon feather on the ground and chasing a bird to put it back on. It was fun to imagine that Amelia E. Hart would be fascinated with feathers and flight.
Find out more about the real Amelia
Read about the Amelia Earhart’s childhood and see if you can find similarities between Amelia Earhart and Amelia E. Hart. Check out a biography about her at the library. Or read stories about her childhood online at www.ameliaearhartmuseum.org.
Be a history sleuth
Amelia Earhart and Orville and Wilbur Wright couldn’t have been cousins because they weren’t related. Could they have been playmates growing up? Do some research and find out. Are there any real-life connections between the famous female pilot and the famous airplane inventors?
Write a song
Make up a song. Use your own tune or choose an old favorite and make up new words. A rhyming dictionary is a great tool for increasing your rhyme power, which is one of the secrets of great songwriting.
Create a new dessert
The Riots make volcanoes of ice cream with hot fudge lava. What you would name this dessert? Invent of a dessert of your own and come up with a catchy name for it. Get permission and help from a grown-up and make it for your family.
Riot Brother Rebus
In The Riot Brothers Find a Lost Mummy, Amelia says, “Let’s invent our own Riot Brother Hieroglyphics to write down our mission!” What they create is a rebus.
Write and draw your own rebus. To do this, first decide what you want to say. Try something with simple, concrete words, such as: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. If you’re stuck, try a Riot Brother rule. Once you’ve chosen it, figure out which of the words could be drawn instead of written. Don’t forget that you can use homonyms and add letters. MY could be M + (a picture of an eye). After you’re finished creating it, give it to a friend and see if your friend can decode it correctly!
Make your own Foot Scrub
Research how to make your own foot scrub. Have a foot scrub party or put in jars and give as gifts. Design your own label for it. Don’t forget to include the Riot Brothers Foot Scrub song.
Illustrations by Ethan Long.
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