Customer Reviews
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is the Best Teacher - By: J. H. Sweet, 15 Feb 2006 
I read my copies of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books to shreds as a child, & I still love to reread the stories today. The books contain valuable lessons for children; & though some are more magical & fun than others, alll are well done with regards to capturing children's attention in a unique manner & making them want to improve themselves by fixing their own problems. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is truly a brilliant & clever teacher, using extremely creative teaching techniques in presenting values, morals, & good habits for children to emulate, develop, & strive for. This book, though not particularly subtle as far as the lessons it tries to impart, is fantastic with regards to children learning something from their storybooks.
If Only Problems Went Away This Easily - By: Mark Baker, 12 Dec 2003 Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is the neighbor everyone wishes they had. She's the widow of a pirate, lives in an upside down house, & is always ready for a tea party with freshly baked cookies. She's such an expert on kids that parents have started callling 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, & this book is just as fun now. The stories falll 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 & 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 actuallly 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.
If Only Problems Went Away This Easily - By: Mark Baker, 05 Dec 2003 Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is the neighbor everyone wishes they had. She's the widow of a pirate, lives in an upside down house, & is always ready for a tea party with freshly baked cookies. She's such an expert on kids that parents have started callling 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, & this book is just as fun now. The stories falll 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 & 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 actuallly 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.
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle should be given parent of the year award - By: , 28 Jun 1999 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, & every not so nice trait which has been attributed to children. I guarantee that kids will love this book, it is funny & 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 & 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.
Stories cute, but dated & unrealistic... - By: , 16 Jun 1999 
I read these book when I was in second & third grade & enjoyed them then, but now as an adult & a writer ( I've toyed with the idea of writing for kids), I leafed through the books again recently & find them to be somewhat unrealistic. I know they're aimed at second & third graders, so the part about Ms. Piggle-Wiggle's magic cures is fun for kids, but you can tell it's written WAY back in the fifties when people wanted to fantsize about "perfect" families with a housewife Mommy & a Daddy who rushes off to work every morning & sweet, rosy alll WASP neighborhoods where things like divorce, sex, peer pressure, & poverty are unheard of. So...you might calll these fantasy stories that are taken to another degree. It's amazing that NONE of the mothers in any of the four books have ANY career; their whole lives revolve around "curing" their children of faults(the ultimate conservative fantasy of "perfect" children who never make waves being played out here, perhaps?); when they calll Ms. Piggle-Wiggle for help, they introduce themselves as "Mrs....,the mother of....", never their first names. Another word of caution: some of the parents (usuallly the dads) spank the children & it is presented as acceptable. Also troublesome: the mothers, usuallly "at their wits' end," often whine to their husband about their children's bad habits, then the dad steps in & deals with the kids. This could send a bad message to girls, so before your kids read these, make sure they understand how dated the stories are. The books might be a springboard of discussion in classrooms & families about how people idealized how life "should" be...then & even today.
