Found it! The book is Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Fritz Siebel.
Amelia Bedelia (1963)
- Author: Peggy Parish
- Illustrator: Fritz Siebel
- First published: 1963
- Reading age: Approximately 6–9
The original book in the classic Amelia Bedelia series. Kirkus Reviews +1
The exact scene you remember
Amelia Bedelia is a housekeeper working for Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. Mrs. Rogers leaves her instructions to “dress the chicken.”
Instead of preparing the chicken for cooking, Amelia literally makes clothes for it and dresses it up!
She also misunderstands other instructions, such as drawing the curtains instead of closing them and dusting furniture by putting dust on it. Kirkus Reviews +1
One small correction: the book doesn’t explicitly establish that she’s a non-native English speaker. The humor comes from her interpreting English expressions literally.
Find the book: Amelia Bedelia on Google Books