Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books by Betty MacDonald

Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, 1957
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, 1947
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm, 1954
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic, 1957

All wonderful, funny books except Farm which went off in a "realistic" direction that betrayed the very concept of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's cures for bad behavior. It was also illustrated by Maurice Sendak, when the Hilary Knight illustrations in the other three are clearly the only proper ones!

My favorite part of these books as an adult is the wonderfully ridiculous names. Usually the child protagonist has an ordinary name, but when the worried mother calls her friends to ask about their children, the silly names make an appearance. Here are the ones I like best:

• Ermintrude Bags
• Calliope Ragbag
• Paraphernalia Grotto
• Cormorant Broomrack
• Worthington and Guinevere Gardenfield
• Wetherill Crankminor
• Pergola Wingsproggle
• Myrtle and Jasper Quitrick
• Cornell and Harvard Foxglove
• Trent and Tansy Popsickle
• Nicholas Semicolon
• Jimmy Gopher
• Miss Weathervane
• Corinthian Bop
• Harbin Quadrangle
• Darsie and Bard Burbank
• Terry and Theresa Teagle
• Percy, Pamela, and Potter Penzil
• Mrs. Wintersmelt
• Armand Armadillo
• Wilfred Grassfeather