Anna L. (annalovesbooks) reviewed on
Helpful Score: 12
ISBN 0064401480 - Let's get the crazy parents out of the way first. If you think reading a book in which all the moms are stay-at-home moms will cause your child to have a psychological break with the reality of 2007, please leave this review and do not buy this book. If you think that the reference of a parent to their desire to paddle the behind of a poorly behaved child will scar your innocent child for life, or that the one-time mention of a father calling his overweight son Blimpy is too harsh to bear, you go too. If you have no sense of humor, there's the door. Now, for the rest of you -
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is something of a combination of Pippi Longstocking - no cares, no worries, weird house, deceased pirate husband (missing seafaring father for Pippi), a home full of fun and good times - and Mary Poppins - not an ailment she can't fix, relates to kids perfectly, parents love her too - with a dash of Opie's Aunt Bea - always with the yummy food and sage advice - thrown in. Kids love her, so when those kids' parents need advice, who better to turn to than the woman who spends more time with their kids than anyone else?
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle takes a phone call at the start of each chapter and helps a mother with her child's problem, offering unique "cures" to such ills as "Won't-Pick-Up-Toys-itis". While the cures are simple psychology, the stories are much more. The problems and the cures are hilarious and even the escalation of some sicknesses are roll-on-the-floor funny.
Not meant to be taken so seriously as some reviewers seem to take it, this is a light-hearted, silly look at some of the most notoriously silly childhood behaviors. From selfishness to fighting with siblings, there's a reflection here of everyone who's ever been a child. And, like Mary O'Toole, who sees her own talking back behavior in Penelope the Parrot and doesn't find it attractive, maybe just seeing how silly their behavior is when someone else indulges will help them overcome it. If not, so what? The book is still a funny, funny read, even SIXTY years after they were written in 1947!
- AnnaLovesBooks
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is something of a combination of Pippi Longstocking - no cares, no worries, weird house, deceased pirate husband (missing seafaring father for Pippi), a home full of fun and good times - and Mary Poppins - not an ailment she can't fix, relates to kids perfectly, parents love her too - with a dash of Opie's Aunt Bea - always with the yummy food and sage advice - thrown in. Kids love her, so when those kids' parents need advice, who better to turn to than the woman who spends more time with their kids than anyone else?
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle takes a phone call at the start of each chapter and helps a mother with her child's problem, offering unique "cures" to such ills as "Won't-Pick-Up-Toys-itis". While the cures are simple psychology, the stories are much more. The problems and the cures are hilarious and even the escalation of some sicknesses are roll-on-the-floor funny.
Not meant to be taken so seriously as some reviewers seem to take it, this is a light-hearted, silly look at some of the most notoriously silly childhood behaviors. From selfishness to fighting with siblings, there's a reflection here of everyone who's ever been a child. And, like Mary O'Toole, who sees her own talking back behavior in Penelope the Parrot and doesn't find it attractive, maybe just seeing how silly their behavior is when someone else indulges will help them overcome it. If not, so what? The book is still a funny, funny read, even SIXTY years after they were written in 1947!
- AnnaLovesBooks
