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Summary: It's fun to be bad!!!
Review: Remember the kid who'd never share? Who refused to take baths? Who always had a smart remark? So does Betty MacDonald, and she describes them with great humor and affection in this terrific book. Whether you're a kid who is sick of listening to adults' constant nagging or a parent who is at the end of their rope, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is sure to make you laugh. It is the story of a lovable woman who has a knack for curing children of their bad habits, sometimes through reverse psychology and sometimes through magical remedies. Even the holiest terrors turn out to be thoroughly charming young people once Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle gets through with them. I love this book because it gives kids credit coming up with all sorts of creative ways to drive their parents nuts (I'm sure even the saintliest of readers will recognize some of their own behavior in these chapters). Mothers are also given credit for putting up with exasperating kids, grumpy husbands, and thankless jobs like housework. Ultimately, this story is really saying that kids use being bad as a way to have fun, while parents use discipline as a way to remain sane. Each side will probably be more sympathetic to the other after reading this book.
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Summary: The first in a classic read-aloud series
Review: From the first chapter, which introduces the character of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, you will wish she were real. It's not just her cleverness with children, it's her rapport with them. She admits that adults make her nervous, and she has little use for adult conventions. Children understand immediately that she is on their side. She is therefore free to "cure" them of traits that parents might not like, but that their fellow children do not like either: selfishness, rudeness, showing off, and lying, for example. Her "cures" are mostly exercises in reverse psychology, and almost always challenge the parents' assumptions as well. This is a book of short stories, and the first in a series of four books. You may as well get all four now, because you and the children you read to will not be able to get enough. Each story takes about twenty minutes to read out loud, and that is the way these stories are meant to be shared (MacDonald wrote them to read aloud to her daughter). Children and adults will laugh, gasp, and nod knowingly at the same points. The stories have become code-words for managing our household: we all know immediately what the issue is when one of us says, "Aha! An I-Thought-You-Saider." Or "A What'll-I-Doer." Or the ever-popular, "Don't-Want-To-Go-To-Bedder." In my childhood in the early 1960s, these books were reserved for babysitters to read to us, the result being that we WANTED our parents to go out. I suggest that you preview each story before using it for a read-aloud session. The values are sometimes out-of-date, and though I think they are harmless, or can easily be handled by supplementary discussion, they might make you uncomfortable. That sounds like a heavy warning, but I do not mean it to be. Just have fun!
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Summary: An Excellent Book for All Children
Review: I first read these books when I was young. While some of the themes may at first seem outdated for todays generation, the lessons that these books teach span all ages and cultures. Every parent has had a situation with one of their children that resembles one of these stories. Children can get a laugh out of the lighthearted humor, and still learn valuable lessons about their behavior and about right etiquette.
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Summary: *~What I Think of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle~*
Review: I remember Mrs Piggle Wiggle from my third grade class. Our teacher used to read some from one of the books each day after lunch. It made such an impression that I hunted them down when my daughter was young so that she could enjoy them. She is now grown with children of her own and is passing the experiences of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle on to them. By the way my favorite story is and always has been "The Radish Cure"
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Summary: This Book is Terrific!
Review: I remember reading these books as a child, and I will read these stories to mine. Although a little dated, they are still as delightfully funny as I remember.
The normal things that kids don't want to do are given a new light, and a new way to get them to do it. No matter what the problem is, Mrs. Pigglewiggle always seems to have the cure. And as silly, or strange her cure may seem, it always works!
My favorite story was always "The Selfishness Cure." About a kid who was being selfish, and would share nothing! So Mrs. Pigglewiggle advised his mother to label EVERYTHING he owned. It was an adorable story!
I highly recommend these books. It would be fun for the whole family to get together one night each week, and read one story in this book. That's what I plan to do with my daighter (when she gets a little older, that is.)
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Summary: Really Stands the Test of Time
Review: I started reading aloud to my students years ago as a technique to calm them after recess and P.E. classes. Throughout my long teaching career, I have read this book to probably thousands of children. I am about to retire, but the kids today seem to love this book as much as they did thirty-seven years ago when I first began teaching. That is truly remarkable and goes to show that children never really change though their surroundings do. Many of my students love this story so much, they check out other Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books from the library, which helps improve their reading skills.
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Summary: My favorite book as a child
Review: I wanted to live in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's house as a child. This is one of the best children's books ever.
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Summary: My favorite book as a child
Review: I wanted to live in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's house as a child. This is one of the best children's books ever.
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Summary: Mrs. Piggle Wiggle should be given parent of the year award
Review: Most people who have read Mrs. Piggle Wiggle will agree that she is one of the dearest characters to grace the pages of any children's book in our time. She is as smart as she is caring, as interesting as she is magical. To sum up, she helps out the neighbourhood kids by curing them of "bad habits" such as quarreling, not picking up toys, and every not so nice trait which has been attributed to children. I guarantee that kids will love this book, it is funny and well written, but at the same time it teaches a lesson to everyone. Even the grownups. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is the best! The only problem with the book is that yes, there is the fact that the women are the ones who stay home and take care of the children etc. etc. But I'm sure if you explain this to your child they'll understand. Honestly when I first read it when I was eight, I didn't even notice. (And I'm still only a teen now if anyone is thinking differently!) But besides this one problem, which most kids will probably look past since it is not the focus of the book, I guarantee that they will adore it. It is a beautiful little book which I am surprised is not more popular.
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Summary: If Only Problems Went Away This Easily
Review: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is the neighbor everyone wishes they had. She's the widow of a pirate, lives in an upside down house, and is always ready for a tea party with freshly baked cookies. She's such an expert on kids that parents have started calling on her wisdom to cure their kids when they start misbehaving. And whether it's making chores into a game or getting kids to take a bath, she's sure to have the answer to make everyone happy again. I loved these books as a kid, and this book is just as fun now. The stories fall into a predictable pattern, but that hardly diminishes their enjoyment. Each chapter is a self-contained story, so it's easy to read just a little bit at a time. Unlike other books in the series that feature magic cures, these stories feature what I recognize now as psychology to cure the kids. The humor comes from the exaggeration of the problem and what the child goes through to get "cured." For example, the parent's fighting in the "Fighter Quarrelers Cure" or the tiny dishes in the "Slow Eater Tiny Bite Taker Cure." Heck, by the time the "Never Want to go to Bedders" are cured, they are actually begging to go to bed at their normal bedtime. Reading the book as an adult, I got a few good laughs out of the names of the parent's friends. I also found it interesting that very few of the adults have an identity apart from their kids. Then again, as a kid's novel, it presents a kid's eye view of the world. I hope these books continue to entertain for years to come.
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