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Title: Happy Birthday, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
ISBN: 0060728124
Author:
Betty Macdonald
Anne Macdonald Canham
Publicate Date: 2007-10-01
Publish: 2007-10-01
List Price: $15.99
Average Customer Rating: 3.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $6.71
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $6.43
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle would be Horrified!
I adored the original Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books by Betty MacDonald. I found them at my grandparent's house where they had belonged to my mother and my aunt. The books included collections of fabulous and fantastical short stories where children were duly 'rewarded' for their behavior. For example, The Radish Cure featured a child who didn't want to bathe; in due time, her mother planted tiny seeds in the caked on dirt. They sprouted and grew and her mother harvested the little radishes until she begged for a bath. Each story typically involved some sort of magic or slightly-over-the-edge logical consequential come-uppance. I still laugh hysterically at some of the stories (I Thought You Said Itis cracks me up even now). I was really thrilled to find a 'new' Piggle-Wiggle book...until I read it.
It was a crushingly disappointing read. Happy Birthday Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lacks the backward charm and inventive cures of the originals... rather you're bludgeoned with politically correct solutions. It is not as well written or thoughtfully developed. Part of the charm of the originals was the magic -- the unwitting and clueless parents, the mature talking animals and children who were allowed to be their rather beastly selves. Happy Birthday tries too hard to homogenize the cures, the children and poor Mrs. Piggle Wiggle herself.
Truly, this book is a sad attempt and a poor tribute to Betty MacDonald's lasting legacy of humor and creativity. Save your money and buy the originals.
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2: more of same silly but wise fun
the book I read is the newest in a series 50+ yrs old, the last of the 4 originals was published in 1957; after the author died, her daughter found unpublished work & added to it to create another bk following the same format as the originals; Mrs Piggle Wiggle was married to a pirate who died; she lives in an upside down house w/5 pets & gets along great w/children; she seems like all she does is play, but she teaches lessons along the way w/magic "cures" for all kinds of problems parents have w/their kids; I think the bks appeal to children of multiple generations because kids are the central characters, there are silly names, animals, & issues common to children & parents, but w/the fun of magic touches & solutions; a key ingredient to the success of the "cures", aside from the magic, is the fact that Mrs Piggle-Wiggle has intimate knowledge of each child & teams w/parents to solve problems wo/the kids knowing she has a role; though the original bks were published in the 1940s & 1950s & set in what was typical for that mid 20th century era, the newest bk carries out the same idea successfully because the issues common to children & parents remain constant through multiple generations - over indulgence in media, bedtime struggles, won't brush teeth, insulting peers, picky eater, fear of failure/afraid to try new things, messy habits, not following through on tasks, etc; as a parent of an ADHD child, I could not help but clearly see that the 4th grade girl in the "never-finish" vignette suffers from ADHD; instead of "accomplishment powder" sprinkled on her hands & feet during sleep to help her stick to tasks till completion, medication might be in order!; fun to see parallels between real life elements & those in the latest bk, such as cereal & media star names; as a parent, it was frustrating to see parents in the bks so helpless as to how to address kids behavior issues, however, this is part of the story; you have to forget about the parents needing to use common sense & get firm holds of situations where kids are out of control, because this where Mrs Piggle-Wiggle comes in to save the day w/magic & behind the scenes child psychology in each scenario; the latest bk in the series was published by the original author's daughter 50 yrs after the last one by her mother; it is fitting that the title & ending vignette are celebrating the unknown birthday of the timeless central character; I read the newest bk to prepare me as a parent to oversee & aid my 3rd grade child in doing a fantasy book report; the target audience of the Piggle-Wiggle series is early elementary age children, however, there is definite appeal to adults/parents too; these would be excellent for parents & kids to read together, or for teachers to use to launch creative thinking/writing projects in class
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