MRS. PIGGLE-WIGGLE

Oh, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. My younger childhood had three major book series loves: Ramona, Berenstain Bears and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I still get massive enjoyment out of all of these, although Ramona will forever be my fave.

The first Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle book was written in 1947, one year before my mom was born! Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic followed in 1949, and then Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm in 1954 and Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle in 1957. These would be all the books we'd get from the original author, Betty MacDonald, who died in 1958.

I remember absolutely loving these and their hilarious illustrations and wonderfully-named characters. The basic premise is that the children in the neighborhood have some rather obnoxious failings and desperate parents soon learn to call up Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for the cures. The kids all love her and hang out at her house (which is upside down) all the time.

The first book has cures that involve simple tricks and no magic whatsoever, but the second has the cures turning more magical. The third book has Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle moved to a farm at the edge of town, so the kids have to come stay with her to be cured. This is easily my least favorite of the lot and I think even the author herself realized her misstep, because the fourth book has Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle right back in town with no mention of the farm at all.

In 2007, I remember being in the Barnes & Noble on the next block over from my first NYU dorm in Brooklyn. I walked past the new releases and there was Happy Birthday, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! I was shocked and bought it right away. The book was written by the author's daughter, working from one finished story and lots of notes left by her mother. The book makes a nice ending for the main Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series.

I can't remember how I stumbled across it, but just a few days ago, I learned about Missy Piggle-Wiggle. The original author's great-granddaughter teamed up with Ann M. Martin, most famous as the author of the Babysitters Club, and they created a new series. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has left the upside-down house and the farm, now conveniently moved to right by the house, in the care of her great-niece. In the original series, Mr. Piggle-Wiggle was clearly deceased, but in the new series, they've got Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle on a search for him. He's a pirate, so he could be anywhere, you know. Missy grew up learning magic and the cures in this book are the most magical ones yet. She also has an invisible bag and the house has become sentient (and has a bit of a vendetta against Missy). This book is also the first to make the fact that they're being cured of something more obvious to the children and even to the town itself. There was a much more subtle approach before with the cures mostly taking place at home, but now we've got them happening during school hours and everything. I didn't mind this approach, but it's a very different feel than the original stories. The town scenes also smack of Martin, because they feel pulled right from her Main Street series. There's something about Ann M Martin describing small towns, I guess!

Anyway, the first Missy Piggle-Wiggle book came out last September and the second, shown in the third picture, is coming this September.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is a great series for all ages. Definitely loads of fun and even though the earlier stories are decidedly dated, they won't fail to amuse.

AMERICAN GIRL: Maryellen Mysteries

I read and reviewed Maryellen's two classic books way back in December 2015. If you go back to that review, you'll see I had pretty big issues with them. I got partway through Maryellen's first mystery, then decided to quick reread her classics as a refresher. This time around, I didn't feel the same level of animosity towards the books, although the polio issue and how poorly her friends and family treated her still rankles me a lot.

So I was in a decent frame of mind when I got back into The Finders-Keepers Rule, which is a story about sunken ships and treasure seekers. Definitely a unique topic and I liked the story quite a bit. Maryellen and Davy are the central characters, although Jerry and Joan both play larger roles, too. The story could almost be set in modern times, except I'm sure there are stricter rules about treasure finds these days.

Maryellen's second mystery, The Runaway, tackles a topic AG mysteries have already handled. Just as Maryellen on the cover is borrowing her hairstyle from Melody, she's also borrowing the dognapping theme from Kit. And Kit did it much better. Kit's story seemed much more believable in the days of the depression when people did desperate things for money. In Maryellen's book, the dogs are being stolen in broad daylight right from people's yards, and once there was even a kid right there, and they're being sold to a local pharmaceutical company. There's a climactic scene with Maryellen, Davy, Wayne, Angela and practically all the Larkins, minus Dad and Joan, crashing their way into the pharmaceutical lab and rescuing the dogs. The whole book is a combination of boring (I set it down for a couple days and forced myself to finish it tonight) and over the top.

So two thumbs up for The Finders-Keepers Rule and one thumb sorta sideways for The Runaway. Which isn't even a good title, because it's pretty quickly established that Scooter did not run away.

Still, I like Maryellen better having read these, so that's good anyway. Next up, Melody!