An old favorite stands up extremely well, but another entry in the Piggle Wiggle series fails utterly. I can remember reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle with great joy as a very young reader. And when I revisited her in the original volume, all the reasons for that joy came flooding back to me; her upside-down house; her dear departed pirate husband; her quirky costumes; her endless sugar cookies; her enthusiasm for all children's games even when they totally disrupted her home and garden; her wisdom and ingenuity in solving common parenting problems such as "won't pick up toys", "refuses to take a bath" and "never wants to go to bed". The whole book is clever and delightful. In Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Magic, however, all the cleverness seems to have been used up; we still have parents calling on Mrs. PW to "cure" their children of unwanted habits, but in nearly every case this involves some magic powder blown up their noses or sprinkled in their beds, not the inspired solutions of the first book when radish seeds, graduated sets of dishes and a terribly rude Parrot save the day.
january 2016 ( )

Parents in one city turn to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for ludicrous child rearing tips and Saw style punishments to correct various behaviors. More a series of macabre short stories than a novel, really. ( )

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Selfishness cure, Answer-Backer cure, Slow Eater Tiny Bite Taker cure, Won't Put Away Toys cure

Banned books:

Are you there God, its me, Margaret
Huckleberry Finn
Heather has two Mommies

Why are people wasting their time on those well meaning books when Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is still out there on shelves, unchallenged, messing with people's heads?! I read this odd little book when I was about eight and STILL have recurring nightmares about The Radish Cure. I just reread it today, trying to vanquish my fears, and now I'm afraid to go to sleep.

I will not go into details about The Radish Cure except to say that to this day the sight of mud on my skin freaks me out and I have a deep distrust of roots.

Bring on The Satanic Verses, but keep that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle away from me! ( )