Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Book

Dear Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! So clever, so kind! And what a fascinating look these book give you at life in the "Donna Reed Era." All the mothers are at home making pot roasts and gingerbread for their children, and the fathers work in an office and smoke pipes and read the paper after supper. The girls wear dresses and white socks and the boys wear sweaters and ironed jeans! It's swell, just swell!

And YET. The problems that these frazzled mothers call Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to help with? Still so current! Selfishness, not picking up toys, picky eating, constant bickering! Every time I read these books to my kids (and it looks like it's been about 6 years since the last time), I always have to keep stopping to stare meaningfully at my children. Because even though they're generally very good . . . well, we all need a reminder about how annoying quarreling is, or how important it is to take care of your own things!