Missy Piggle-Wiggle and the Sticky-Fingers Cure

Missy Piggle-Wiggle #3

by Ann M. Martin, Ben Hatke (Illustrator)

From powerhouse author Ann M. Martin, this third book in a delightful series and revitalization of a classic series is sure to draw in readers both new and old.

Once in a generation, the Effluvia strikes and it affects everyone differently. Missy wakes one morning to find the upside-down house is . . . right-side up? It's not long before Missy has to quarantine the house. Meanwhile she's still fielding calls from worried parents, and Louie can't keep his sticky fingers from taking other people's things! But Missy's magic cure might just do the trick, and even teach some valuable lessons along the way.

Genres: Childrens, Juvenile, Chapter Books, Humor, Fantasy

237 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 4, 2018

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but there is something missing that the originals had. I’m not even quite sure what it is, but it might be Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle herself. Missy just isn’t the same. These are enjoyable, but I don’t think they will stand the test of time the same way the originals have.

[Rebecca Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

My girls and I were excited to read this as we've loved the original Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series. I was very disappointed in the book because it seemed as if the author took a few bones (upside down house, name, animals, potion cures) and then created an entirely new world and story. It just lacked the whimsy and magic of the original. I understand it's a spinoff, but it missed the point. The originals were made up of loosely connected short stories, but this seemed to be one large story arc. It was too wordy, but the vocabulary wasn't great. I was often bored. We ended up abandoning because the author decided in order to completely modernize the book, she should add a lesbian couple as the parents for the main children in chapter 3. Not something I was prepared to encounter in a Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle world, nor something I wanted to tackle with my 4, 6, and 8 year old before bedtime.

[Llyr Heller-Humphreys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one of the series yet!

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missy Piggle-Wiggle is stuck in the house as Effluvia has struck the house, which is suddenly right side up. Light Foot is floating around, and Missy has to quarantine herself and sadly keep the neighborhood kids out. That doesn't mean demand for the Piggle-Wiggle cures is on hold, she has to arrange pick up for cures for several kids around town for everything from sticky fingers to nit-picking to being a chatterbox.

While I love the originals and have enjoyed this extension series, this Piggle-Wiggle book felt more didactic than any other book and a little less charming. Part of that is probably due to the house being normal side up and out of commission for pretty much the whole book. I love the charm and fun of the Piggle-Wiggle house and missed it. I do think it is kind of uncanny how this book came out in 2018 and features Missy going through quarantine for months and how she has to explain that to the kids in town and just 2 years later you pretty much don't have to explain what quarantine is to any one. Kids get it. Kids have lived it. So if you or someone you know is still in quarantine and feeling the blues and needs a kindred literary spirit, maybe this is just the book for them. There are some common issues for kids addressed in here, and I can see this might be the catalyst for an aha moment for some readers. If so great. It was mildly entertaining, but again, not as much as when the house is upside-down and open for fun.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Some may want to know that the sticky-fingers boy has two moms. No violence.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books years (and years) ago. It’s nice to see someone picked up the plot and added some new ideas. Part of the charm of the originals (for me) is the little slices of life in the late 1940s. The telephones connected to the walls, no TVs, shopping with mom AFTER she gets dressed up, the little things. In the newer versions I notice that Missy talks on her phone from all over the house. The language in the newer books is much simpler. I have a copy of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and checked. “..her hair billowed down her back.” Missy’s hair isn’t even described (at least not in this book) and in general the book seems geared to a third-grader reading it alone. I read the originals to my granddaughter (she is in third grade but reads at a seventh grade level). We’ll see how she responds to this one.

[Jenny Ashby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle as a kid! In looking for them digitally to see how they hold up lo these 45 years later, I discovered that digital Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is not an option. But now there are these new adventures with her great-niece Missy. And I have to say that the tone of the book is very much the same as the originals. The cures are not as creative as what I remember, but it's still pretty fun to watch the bad kids and their families - who are often a big part of the problem - learn a lesson. If only there were these peppermints and chocolates available for teachers!

[Nikki Glassley · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are fine but they're just missing the magic of the original series- strange because there's literally more magic than the original series. I miss the intricacy of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's cures- the boxes full of tiny bottles and the steps and the creativity of it all. Missy Piggle-Wiggle is sort of just snapping her fingers and calling it a day.

[☆♡Ellie♡☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, I maaayy have skipped two books, but why do I care? BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME?????!!!! YES!!!I hope you're ready for what's to come
in your path, read now and see the most awesome adventure!
Yes, it may seem for kids, but read and find out, it's not
just for children!!!!! P.S. Do not NOT read the entire thing!!!!!!

[Brielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was hillarious. Reading books about child cures just makes me want to laugh. It makes me wonder how my mother did it. I really like how this book shows realation to the fist series mrs. Piggle wiggle.

[Bethany Geffken · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not like the clever original Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books. It seems like every children's book I pick up for my kids includes a same sex relationship when it's completely unnecessary to the storyline. Ann M. Martin was one of my childhood favorites and this was disappointing.

[Laurian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The boys wanted more.

[emyrose8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, the cures are the best part. I still wish there was less magic and more of the realistic fixes Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle did in her books.

Note- one family has two moms

[Malea · Rating 4 out of 5]

My girls can't get enough of these books. They are simple and charming books about curing ailments that children have through magic and experience. :)

[Andrea Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only the world had Missy Piggle-Wiggle cures in all the towns :)

[Anna Tatelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know that I needed a Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle book by Ann M. Martin until I got one, but wow, I'm so glad this exists!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not ready for these to be over. These are super cute.

[Clarice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Homosexuality in the sticky fingers chapter

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped reading at chapter 3 with the 2 mommies story. Unfortunately, this is the new, politically correct version of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

[Haley Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are amazing funny books!! I couldn't stop laughing!!!The other books in this series are funny to, but this is my favorite one!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missy deals with the Winter Effluvia and helps the children of the town in this fun installment of adventures.

[Mikayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my least favorite of the series. I didn't really get why they had Missy have to be away from everyone. it just seemed unessasarily sad. but the cures were fun.
just a note, one character does have two moms in this one.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, a new author is carrying on the legacy of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle!

If I hadn't noticed that the author's last name was different because it was alphabetized in a different bookshelf of the library, wondered about the Missy vs. Mrs., and looked at the publication date to realize I definitely couldn't have read it as a kid, I don't think I would have ever realized this book was new! It has all the elements I was hoping for when revisiting Mrs. Piggle-wiggle, just different stories.

[Cassie Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this third and final installment of the Missy Piggle-Wiggle series, the lovable and magic Missy is back. A magic ailment with no known cure has engulfed the Upside-Down House and its occupants. Missy is forced to quarantine herself, the animals, and House. The children of Little Spring Valley are dismayed. What will they do with themselves if they can’t go to play at Missy’s?

But just because Missy and the gang are trapped with the Effluvia, that doesn’t mean that the parents and children of Little Spring Valley no longer need cures. From chatterboxes to nitpickers, and who’s-the-bosses to pants-on-fires, Missy is needed more than ever to cure the children (and occasionally their parents!) from dreadful habits and behaviors. But when Missy falls ill, will anybody help her?

A great ending to the Missy Piggle-Wiggle series, this book has all the fantastic elements we’ve come to expect from either of the Piggle-Wiggles. And it looks like by the end, Missy wants to stay for the long haul. That will please the children of Little Spring Valley, as well as her world-traveling aunt. This whole series is for all ages, and it will make you smile and laugh as you see the fantastic cures that Missy gives to many of the children of her magic little town.

[Elizabeth]

I love this whole series! It reminds me how there is no such thing as a "bad kid." These are good kids with bad habits, and they need to be taught differently. In this book, I missed Missy's interactions with the children, and Harold, but I guess that was just a taste of the bit of isolation she was feeling.