Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
by Betty MacDonald, published 1947
“Pretty soon down the stairs came a terrible old witch with a long black dress, a tall black hat and a big gnarly black cane. Mary Lou was very scared until she saw the sparkly eyes of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle under the black hat.”
I don’t know how I missed this delightful children’s book, but it totally escaped both my life and my attention until now. A classic series of stories to deal with any difficult situation that a parent faces – bed time, teeth brushing, talking back. Mrs. Piggle-wiggle solves them all with one imaginative swoop – give the children direct experience of it! I laughed and enjoyed every encounter with the trials and tribulations of parenting. Yes, this children’s book is probably dated, and yes, many parents will roll their eyes. But read one story aloud to a child who is dealing with the same issue, and I imagine transformative results will sneak into the child’s life sooner or later.
Everything about this children’s book reminds me of Mary Poppins, and a spoonful of sugar with the medicine. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is all goodness and sugar, and I think we could all use a dose of that right now! By the way, her daughter continued the series with Happy Birthday, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, but I don’t think it quite reaches the proficiency that the original series holds. (Also, the cover of this book as found on Amazon, is not the right image, as far as I can tell!)