Amazon.com
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has been wildly popular with children and adults for over 50 years. Children adore her because she understands them--and because her upside-down house is always filled with the smell of freshly baked cookies, and her backyard with buried treasure. Grownups love her because her magical common sense solutions to children's problems succeed when their own cajoling and yelling don't. For the child who refuses to bathe, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle recommends letting her be. Wait until the dirt on her body has accumulated to half an inch, then scatter radish seeds on her arms and head. When the plants start sprouting, the nonbather is guaranteed to change her mind about that bath.
Hilary Knight's (Eloise, Sunday Morning) delightful pictures provide lively, droll accompaniment to Betty MacDonald's refreshing stories. Whether Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is curing Answer-Backers or Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Takers, her remedies always work like a charm. More than one parent over the years has surreptitiously turned to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle when Dr. Spock failed to come through. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-Children will love this recording of the classic written by Betty MacDonald (HarperCollins, 1957) and read by Karen White. Youngsters are still fascinated with the idea of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle who says that the hump on her back is full of magic. The house she shares with her dog, Wag, and cat, Lightfoot, is built upside-down except for the kitchen, bath, and stairs. Her past, which is somewhat mysterious, includes a pirate husband who supposedly buried treasure in the backyard. Unlike most parents, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle understands exactly what children like to do to entertain themselves. The funny names and exaggerated situations add to the fun. In addition to providing a childhood wonderland in her home, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has a storehouse of "cures" for common childhood diseases including the Won't-Pick-Up-Toys cure, the Answer-Backer cure, the Never-Want-to-Go-to-Bedders cure, the Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker cure, and several others. White perfectly captures the whiny voices of the children as well as the desperation of the parents. The portrayal of the parents in the stereotypes typical of the 1950's fits into the whole fantasy of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's world. This recording will find a large audience in public library children's collections and elementary school libraries.Maureen Cash Moffet, St. Anne's Catholic School Library, Bristol, VACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Teaching children to behave well is rarely an easy task--ask any parent. But while Mary Poppins uses magic to help her, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle uses her wits and her knowledge and love of children to teach them to be kind, helpful and well-behaved. No matter the problem--selfishness, not telling the truth, not putting away their toys--Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has a delightful cure. John McDonough's Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is kind, even-tempered and wise, without being overbearing or a know-it-all. His narration brings us back to the time when children did as they were told, except when they were just acting like kids. McDonough differentiates the various adults and children with inflection, tone and pacing, but his reading of Penelope the Parrot, in the "Talking-Back Cure," is priceless. A charming reading of a timeless classic. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Book Description
Everyone loves Mrs. Piggle-WiggleMrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside-down house ans smells like cookies. She was even married to a pirate once. Most of all, she knows everything about children. She can cure them of any ailment. Patsy hates baths. Hubert never puts anything away. Allen eats v-e-r-y slowly. Mrs Piggle-Wiggle has a treatment for all of them.The incomparable Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle loves children good or bad and never scolds but has positive cures for Answer-Backers, Never-Want-to-Go-to-Bedders, and other boys and girls with strange habits. ‘[Now] in paperback . . . for a new generation of children to enjoy.’ —San Francisco Examiner Chronicle.
About the Author
When Betty MacDonald married and moved to a small farm on the Olympic Peninsula in the State of Washington, she was largely unprepared for the rigors of life in the wild. No running water, no electricity, a house in need of constant repair, and days that ran from four in the morning to nine at night, with barely a moment to put one's feet up. And this was before the children arrived. But the MacDonalds managed to keep their sense of humor, and this account of their adventures with the house and with neighbors is an endearing frontier classic.
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