You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
benedorm 's review for:
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
by Betty MacDonald
There was a trend in children's literature in the early and mid-20th century for books about quasi-magical people who were courageous and clever and seemed to know everything about everything. It's the model that gave us Doctor Doolittle, Pippi Longstocking, and Mary Poppins, and when it works, it can produce the framework for memorable, enchanting stories.
When it doesn't work, it gives us Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside-down house, and is a great friend of children. Each of the chapters in the book are about the parents of a child with a particular problem behavior. The parents call Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for help, and she prescribes some type of "cure" for it.
That sounds sort of preachy and tiresome, but it's actually worse than that, because each of the "cures" is pretty awful. They range from the frustrating ("The Answer-Backer Cure," with its loathsome parrot) to the cruel ("The Selfishness Cure" is basically an incitement for bullying) to the OMG THAT'S ACTUAL CHILD ABUSE ("The Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker Cure" literally features Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle trying to stifle laughter at the sight of an emaciated child, who's been given progressively smaller and smaller meals for days, struggling to stay on the back of a horse). I recognize the book is trying to be whimsical, but it comes across as Goofus and Gallant Go To Hell, crossed with the meaner episodes of Punk'd.
I'm not sure why this one has found an audience -- it's still in print, and here on this page, its average rating is well north of four stars. But to me, it was deeply unpleasant, the kind of thing I only finished because a) it was short, and b) I wanted to see just how much of a train wreck it would become. Not Recommended.
When it doesn't work, it gives us Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lives in an upside-down house, and is a great friend of children. Each of the chapters in the book are about the parents of a child with a particular problem behavior. The parents call Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for help, and she prescribes some type of "cure" for it.
That sounds sort of preachy and tiresome, but it's actually worse than that, because each of the "cures" is pretty awful. They range from the frustrating ("The Answer-Backer Cure," with its loathsome parrot) to the cruel ("The Selfishness Cure" is basically an incitement for bullying) to the OMG THAT'S ACTUAL CHILD ABUSE ("The Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker Cure" literally features Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle trying to stifle laughter at the sight of an emaciated child, who's been given progressively smaller and smaller meals for days, struggling to stay on the back of a horse). I recognize the book is trying to be whimsical, but it comes across as Goofus and Gallant Go To Hell, crossed with the meaner episodes of Punk'd.
I'm not sure why this one has found an audience -- it's still in print, and here on this page, its average rating is well north of four stars. But to me, it was deeply unpleasant, the kind of thing I only finished because a) it was short, and b) I wanted to see just how much of a train wreck it would become. Not Recommended.