Thank You, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Remembering Betty MacDonald’s series of children’s books
Did you ever read the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books by Betty MacDonald? I read them many times, and I still have my paperback copies (pictured above) of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic, and Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
Although I know there was a short-lived TV show in the 1990s, and now a reboot of the book series co-authored by Ann M. Martin (with Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s great-niece taking over for the great lady herself), I think the original books are a little bit obscure.
I have a feeling the books might be unknown to most readers who grew up later than the 1980s, but please do prove me wrong if you found them later than this! Also, I wonder if they were more popular here in Washington state than anywhere else because we could claim the author as a local.
I loved many more well-known books and followed the adventures of a variety of fictional friends, from Winnie the Pooh to Anne Shirley. But I always had a special fondness for the commonsense, loving ways of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, who never had children of her own but was beloved by all the kids in the neighborhood. Oh, and she smelled like sugar cookies. What could be nicer?
As an English teacher, I’m usually pretty good about talking about literary works in the present tense…
