Friday, May 20, 2016

Betty MacDonald, new contest and recipe and Mevrouw Piggle Wiggle

mrs. piggle wiggle_dutch_1952_hardcover_book jacket_FRONT
Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.



Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter May is available with many International Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen book covers.

You can read two very interesting letters by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen. 


We are looking for signed or dedicated first editions in great condition with dust jackets by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen for our fans.

Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel  and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography and new Betty MacDonald documentary.


You'll receive a Betty MacDonald fan club message very soon.

This message includes a very nice Betty MacDonald fan club surprise and many info on our current Betty MacDonald fan club projects.

Join one of our Betty MacDonald fan club research teams, please. 

Thanks a million in advance for your outstanding support.

Let's talk about Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest.

You can vote for your favourite Betty MacDonald book cover.

Deadline: June 30, 2016

Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest winner will be  owner of a signed first edition of one of Betty MacDonald's books.  


In which language the book about Mevrouw Piggle Wiggle has been published? ( see book cover above )

Send the answer, please and maybe you'll be the winner of Betty MacDonald fan club surprise.

Good luck!

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.

Letizia Mancino's  magical Betty MacDonald Gallery  is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans.

 
Enjoy a new breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.



Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  shares his autobiography.

He is a real Casanova but this magical guy got fans from all over the world.

I belong to Mr. Tigerli's devoted fans.

Thank you so much for sharing this witty memories with us.

Wolfgang Hampel's last Vita Magica guest reader was a very famous satirical writer - Michail Krausnick.


We hope Angela Merkel's very close friend  Mr. Erdogan won't have any problems with his work. 

Jamie-Lee with Ghost got over 6,4 million views and more than 58.000 people like the song.

This is our Betty MacDonald fan club ESC 2016 TOP 5 according to Betty MacDonald fan club ESC fans in 40 countries.   



Take care,


Lars


 

Don't miss this very special book, please.








Vita Magica 

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French ) 


Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  
 















Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 

mrs. piggle wiggle_dutch_1952_hardcover_book jacket_FRONT

Gentleman's Quick-tip: Healthy Breakfast

One aspect of a gentleman is his attention to detail and a very important detail should be his health. While it might be easy to grab something quick and sugary for breakfast, an ideal breakfast should be high in protein and have enough healthy fats to keep you satiated for the first few hours of the day.

After you down a liter of water (you become dehydrated when you sleep) a good breakfast is the best way to tackle the rest of the morning.  I am a huge fan of cooking.  Sometimes things turn out badly, but after a while you start to know what would taste great.  That way you can experiment and create healthy meals for yourself, instead of being at the mercy of whatever the local restaurant serves you. 

Here's a recipe for my latest success: 


















The Eggwhite - Cottage Cheese Omelet

3 egg whites
2-3 Tbsp cottage cheese
1/2 tsp basil (fresh is best - of course)
optional - I add a load of red pepper flakes, because I love spicy food sprinkled cheddar cheese on top for taste and appearance

Heat frying pan on a stove top set at medium-low to medium. If your pan is not non-stick, you should spray it with a cooking spray first.  Allow the pan to heat for a moment while you combine the ingredients (no more than 2-3 minutes).

With a fork or whisk mix the eggs, cottage cheese, basil and other optional additions.  Pour into pan.  I put a lid on the pan to allow the heat and steam to cook the top of the omelet; this will make flipping the omelet much easier.  After you flip the omelet, add the shredded cheddar cheese to the cooked side. After the eggs are sufficiently cooked through, serve and enjoy!  
For additional health tips, check out my classmate's blog about healthy living.  Her blog goes into greater detail about healthy diet and fitness.  Definitely worth checking out. 


Childhood Memories: Betty MacDonald






Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle ‘lives in a charming little house built upside down’

Children’s literature has always had a special place in my heart; not only was I first exposed to the English language through these books, but also because these books apparently spoke enough to me that I’m now doing a degree in English Literature. As such, one of my favourite children’s series will always be the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by American author Betty MacDonald. 
The eponymous Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, the cheerful widow of a pirate, lives in a charming little house built upside down, in an equally charming little town. In each book she makes it her mission to rid the children in her neighbourhood of various bad habits using the magical chest her husband left behind.  Looking back on the books now, the town that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lived in was probably not a very endearing place, given that it was full of kids who each had one continuing fault. Granted, things have to be put on a spectrum; Melody Foxglove’s penchant for excessive crying, or Nicholas Semicolon’s bullying could both probably be considered more annoying than Harbin Quandrangle’s constant daydreaming, or Lee and Mimi Wharton’s persisting boredom. In fact, I still have my doubts whether or not Harbin’s or the Wharton siblings’ afflictions qualify as real faults warranting some sort of cure. I suppose also, as a child then myself, I should have been a little bit offended by her attempts to right many of the bad habits I had at the time, but I think most of that was masked by the fact that I was so happy to read a series of short stories bound into a chaptered book, Maybe even on some unconscious level, I always behaved better after reading. In fact, some of the cures that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle comes up with are thoroughly entertaining. To cure Fetlock Harroway of his compulsive lying, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s collection of friendly farm animals assure him that there isn’t really a reason for Fetlock to lie and that he is a wonderful boy just the way he is. ‘The Radish Cure’ introduces us to Patsy Waters, who dislikes bathing. As such, Patsy’s mother Mrs. Waters is advised by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to leave Patsy alone for long enough that radishes can be planted on her to prove a point. I’ve always wondered about why MacDonald chose radishes as the vegetable to plant on Patsy—is it because they can be harvested quickly? However, there is also a darker side to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s various cures, so to speak. To cure Allen of taking super tiny bites in ‘The Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker Cure,’ Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle presents his mother with a set of specially-made dishes made to serve smaller and smaller portions until Allen runs out of energy and loses the ability to function. Upon revisiting that particular story, I find myself slightly concerned that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is in a sense advocating starving Allen – even if only for a short amount of time. When Allen’s mother voices this concern, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle appears to be not very bothered, as if she’s absolutely sure that her remedy will work. The fact that it might not doesn’t seem to have registered. However, in the vein of Roald Dahl, who I still view as one of the most successful children’s storyteller of all time, no children’s tale is complete without a retrospective nugget or two to worry (or perhaps even intrigue) the parents. In short, despite some slightly alarming realisations that have since become obvious to me as an adult reader, the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series is a charming gem for children, which quite accurately encapsulates growing up in idyllic 1950s America. This bit is particularly dear to me as someone who has grown up in a small-town environment. Acting both as a fun advice column and maybe additionally as slightly tongue-in-cheek cautionary tales for the young reader, the Mrs Piggle-Wiggle series is overall a gentle, motherly breeze from the past, and well worth a look.


mrs. piggle wiggle_dutch_1952_hardcover_book jacket_FRONT

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, new contest, Betty MacDonald and Fräulein Pudel-Dudel

mrs. piggle wiggle_German_1963_hardcover_FRONT
Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.



Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

join our new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle contest, please.

You have a new chance today.

( see info below )


We are looking for signed or dedicated first editions in great condition with dust jackets by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen for our fans.

Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel  and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography and new Betty MacDonald documentary.


You'll receive a Betty MacDonald fan club message very soon.

This message includes a very nice Betty MacDonald fan club surprise and many info on our current Betty MacDonald fan club projects.

Join one of our Betty MacDonald fan club research teams, please. 

Thanks a million in advance for your outstanding support.

Let's talk about Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest.

You can vote for your favourite Betty MacDonald book cover.

Deadline: June 30, 2016

Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest winner will be  owner of a signed first edition of one of Betty MacDonald's books.  


In which language the book about Fräulein Pudel-Dudel has been published? ( see book cover above )

Send the answer, please and maybe you'll be the winner of Betty MacDonald fan club surprise.

Good luck!

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.

Letizia Mancino's  magical Betty MacDonald Gallery  is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans.

 
Enjoy a new breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.



Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  shares his autobiography.

He is a real Casanova but this magical guy got fans from all over the world.

I belong to Mr. Tigerli's devoted fans.

Thank you so much for sharing this witty memories with us.

Wolfgang Hampel's last Vita Magica guest reader was a very famous satirical writer - Michail Krausnick.


We hope Angela Merkel's very close friend  Mr. Erdogan won't have any problems with his work. 

Jamie-Lee with Ghost got over 6,4 million views and more than 58.000 people like the song.

This is our Betty MacDonald fan club ESC 2016 TOP 5 according to Betty MacDonald fan club ESC fans in 40 countries.   



Yours,


Maxi


 

Don't miss this very special book, please.








Vita Magica 

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French ) 


Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  
 















Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 

mrs. piggle wiggle_German_1963_hardcover_FRONT

Childhood Memories: Betty MacDonald






Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle ‘lives in a charming little house built upside down’

Children’s literature has always had a special place in my heart; not only was I first exposed to the English language through these books, but also because these books apparently spoke enough to me that I’m now doing a degree in English Literature. As such, one of my favourite children’s series will always be the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by American author Betty MacDonald. 
The eponymous Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, the cheerful widow of a pirate, lives in a charming little house built upside down, in an equally charming little town. In each book she makes it her mission to rid the children in her neighbourhood of various bad habits using the magical chest her husband left behind.  Looking back on the books now, the town that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lived in was probably not a very endearing place, given that it was full of kids who each had one continuing fault. Granted, things have to be put on a spectrum; Melody Foxglove’s penchant for excessive crying, or Nicholas Semicolon’s bullying could both probably be considered more annoying than Harbin Quandrangle’s constant daydreaming, or Lee and Mimi Wharton’s persisting boredom. In fact, I still have my doubts whether or not Harbin’s or the Wharton siblings’ afflictions qualify as real faults warranting some sort of cure. I suppose also, as a child then myself, I should have been a little bit offended by her attempts to right many of the bad habits I had at the time, but I think most of that was masked by the fact that I was so happy to read a series of short stories bound into a chaptered book, Maybe even on some unconscious level, I always behaved better after reading. In fact, some of the cures that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle comes up with are thoroughly entertaining. To cure Fetlock Harroway of his compulsive lying, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s collection of friendly farm animals assure him that there isn’t really a reason for Fetlock to lie and that he is a wonderful boy just the way he is. ‘The Radish Cure’ introduces us to Patsy Waters, who dislikes bathing. As such, Patsy’s mother Mrs. Waters is advised by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to leave Patsy alone for long enough that radishes can be planted on her to prove a point. I’ve always wondered about why MacDonald chose radishes as the vegetable to plant on Patsy—is it because they can be harvested quickly? However, there is also a darker side to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s various cures, so to speak. To cure Allen of taking super tiny bites in ‘The Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker Cure,’ Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle presents his mother with a set of specially-made dishes made to serve smaller and smaller portions until Allen runs out of energy and loses the ability to function. Upon revisiting that particular story, I find myself slightly concerned that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is in a sense advocating starving Allen – even if only for a short amount of time. When Allen’s mother voices this concern, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle appears to be not very bothered, as if she’s absolutely sure that her remedy will work. The fact that it might not doesn’t seem to have registered. However, in the vein of Roald Dahl, who I still view as one of the most successful children’s storyteller of all time, no children’s tale is complete without a retrospective nugget or two to worry (or perhaps even intrigue) the parents. In short, despite some slightly alarming realisations that have since become obvious to me as an adult reader, the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series is a charming gem for children, which quite accurately encapsulates growing up in idyllic 1950s America. This bit is particularly dear to me as someone who has grown up in a small-town environment. Acting both as a fun advice column and maybe additionally as slightly tongue-in-cheek cautionary tales for the young reader, the Mrs Piggle-Wiggle series is overall a gentle, motherly breeze from the past, and well worth a look.

mrs. piggle wiggle_German_1963_hardcover_FRONT

Betty MacDonald, new contest and Tant Mittiprick

mrs. piggle wiggle's magic_swedish_1968_hardcover_FRONT
Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.



Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

join our new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle contest, please.

You have a new chance today.

( see info below )


We are looking for signed or dedicated first editions in great condition with dust jackets by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen for our fans.

Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel  and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography and new Betty MacDonald documentary.


You'll receive a Betty MacDonald fan club message very soon.

This message includes a very nice Betty MacDonald fan club surprise and many info on our current Betty MacDonald fan club projects.

Join one of our Betty MacDonald fan club research teams, please. 

Thanks a million in advance for your outstanding support.

Let's talk about Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest.

You can vote for your favourite Betty MacDonald book cover.

Deadline: June 30, 2016

Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest winner will be  owner of a signed first edition of one of Betty MacDonald's books.  


In which language the book about Tant Mittiprick has been published? ( see book cover above )

Send the answer, please and maybe you'll be the winner of Betty MacDonald fan club surprise.

Good luck!

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.

Letizia Mancino's  magical Betty MacDonald Gallery  is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans.

 
Enjoy a new breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.



Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  shares his autobiography.

He is a real Casanova but this magical guy got fans from all over the world.

I belong to Mr. Tigerli's devoted fans.

Thank you so much for sharing this witty memories with us.

Wolfgang Hampel's last Vita Magica guest reader was a very famous satirical writer - Michail Krausnick.


We hope Angela Merkel's very close friend  Mr. Erdogan won't have any problems with his work. 

Jamie-Lee with Ghost got over 6,4 million views and more than 57.000 people like the song.

This is our Betty MacDonald fan club ESC 2016 TOP 5 according to Betty MacDonald fan club ESC fans in 40 countries.   



Yours,


Maxi


 

Don't miss this very special book, please.








Vita Magica 

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French ) 


Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  
 















Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 

mrs. piggle wiggle's magic_swedish_1968_hardcover_FRONT

Childhood Memories: Betty MacDonald






Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle ‘lives in a charming little house built upside down’

Children’s literature has always had a special place in my heart; not only was I first exposed to the English language through these books, but also because these books apparently spoke enough to me that I’m now doing a degree in English Literature. As such, one of my favourite children’s series will always be the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by American author Betty MacDonald. 
The eponymous Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, the cheerful widow of a pirate, lives in a charming little house built upside down, in an equally charming little town. In each book she makes it her mission to rid the children in her neighbourhood of various bad habits using the magical chest her husband left behind. To this day, I keep waiting on a short story or two from Annie about how Mr. and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle met and got on in their brief married life – it must have been exciting! Looking back on the books now, the town that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lived in was probably not a very endearing place, given that it was full of kids who each had one continuing fault. Granted, things have to be put on a spectrum; Melody Foxglove’s penchant for excessive crying, or Nicholas Semicolon’s bullying could both probably be considered more annoying than Harbin Quandrangle’s constant daydreaming, or Lee and Mimi Wharton’s persisting boredom. In fact, I still have my doubts whether or not Harbin’s or the Wharton siblings’ afflictions qualify as real faults warranting some sort of cure. I suppose also, as a child then myself, I should have been a little bit offended by her attempts to right many of the bad habits I had at the time, but I think most of that was masked by the fact that I was so happy to read a series of short stories bound into a chaptered book, Maybe even on some unconscious level, I always behaved better after reading. In fact, some of the cures that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle comes up with are thoroughly entertaining. To cure Fetlock Harroway of his compulsive lying, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s collection of friendly farm animals assure him that there isn’t really a reason for Fetlock to lie and that he is a wonderful boy just the way he is. ‘The Radish Cure’ introduces us to Patsy Waters, who dislikes bathing. As such, Patsy’s mother Mrs. Waters is advised by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to leave Patsy alone for long enough that radishes can be planted on her to prove a point. I’ve always wondered about why MacDonald chose radishes as the vegetable to plant on Patsy—is it because they can be harvested quickly? However, there is also a darker side to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s various cures, so to speak. To cure Allen of taking super tiny bites in ‘The Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker Cure,’ Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle presents his mother with a set of specially-made dishes made to serve smaller and smaller portions until Allen runs out of energy and loses the ability to function. Upon revisiting that particular story, I find myself slightly concerned that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is in a sense advocating starving Allen – even if only for a short amount of time. When Allen’s mother voices this concern, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle appears to be not very bothered, as if she’s absolutely sure that her remedy will work. The fact that it might not doesn’t seem to have registered. However, in the vein of Roald Dahl, who I still view as one of the most successful children’s storyteller of all time, no children’s tale is complete without a retrospective nugget or two to worry (or perhaps even intrigue) the parents. In short, despite some slightly alarming realisations that have since become obvious to me as an adult reader, the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series is a charming gem for children, which quite accurately encapsulates growing up in idyllic 1950s America. This bit is particularly dear to me as someone who has grown up in a small-town environment. Acting both as a fun advice column and maybe additionally as slightly tongue-in-cheek cautionary tales for the young reader, the Mrs Piggle-Wiggle series is overall a gentle, motherly breeze from the past, and well worth a look.

mrs. piggle wiggle's magic_swedish_1968_hardcover_FRONT

Betty MacDonald, new contest and Tant Mittiprick

mrs. piggle wiggle's magic_swedish_1968_hardcover_FRONT
Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.



Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

join our new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle contest, please.

You have a new chance today.

( see info below )


We are looking for signed or dedicated first editions in great condition with dust jackets by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen for our fans.

Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel  and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography and new Betty MacDonald documentary.


You'll receive a Betty MacDonald fan club message very soon.

This message includes a very nice Betty MacDonald fan club surprise and many info on our current Betty MacDonald fan club projects.

Join one of our Betty MacDonald fan club research teams, please. 

Thanks a million in advance for your outstanding support.

Let's talk about Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest.

You can vote for your favourite Betty MacDonald book cover.

Deadline: June 30, 2016

Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest winner will be  owner of a signed first edition of one of Betty MacDonald's books.  


In which language the book about Tant Mittiprick has been published? ( see book cover above )

Send the answer, please and maybe you'll be the winner of Betty MacDonald fan club surprise.

Good luck!

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.

Letizia Mancino's  magical Betty MacDonald Gallery  is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans.

 
Enjoy a new breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.



Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  shares his autobiography.

He is a real Casanova but this magical guy got fans from all over the world.

I belong to Mr. Tigerli's devoted fans.

Thank you so much for sharing this witty memories with us.

Wolfgang Hampel's last Vita Magica guest reader was a very famous satirical writer - Michail Krausnick.


We hope Angela Merkel's very close friend  Mr. Erdogan won't have any problems with his work. 

Jamie-Lee with Ghost got over 6,4 million views and more than 57.000 people like the song.

This is our Betty MacDonald fan club ESC 2016 TOP 5 according to Betty MacDonald fan club ESC fans in 40 countries.   



Yours,


Maxi


 

Don't miss this very special book, please.








Vita Magica 

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French ) 


Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  
 















Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 

mrs. piggle wiggle's magic_swedish_1968_hardcover_FRONT

Childhood Memories: Betty MacDonald






Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle ‘lives in a charming little house built upside down’

Children’s literature has always had a special place in my heart; not only was I first exposed to the English language through these books, but also because these books apparently spoke enough to me that I’m now doing a degree in English Literature. As such, one of my favourite children’s series will always be the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by American author Betty MacDonald. 
The eponymous Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, the cheerful widow of a pirate, lives in a charming little house built upside down, in an equally charming little town. In each book she makes it her mission to rid the children in her neighbourhood of various bad habits using the magical chest her husband left behind. To this day, I keep waiting on a short story or two from Annie about how Mr. and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle met and got on in their brief married life – it must have been exciting! Looking back on the books now, the town that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lived in was probably not a very endearing place, given that it was full of kids who each had one continuing fault. Granted, things have to be put on a spectrum; Melody Foxglove’s penchant for excessive crying, or Nicholas Semicolon’s bullying could both probably be considered more annoying than Harbin Quandrangle’s constant daydreaming, or Lee and Mimi Wharton’s persisting boredom. In fact, I still have my doubts whether or not Harbin’s or the Wharton siblings’ afflictions qualify as real faults warranting some sort of cure. I suppose also, as a child then myself, I should have been a little bit offended by her attempts to right many of the bad habits I had at the time, but I think most of that was masked by the fact that I was so happy to read a series of short stories bound into a chaptered book, Maybe even on some unconscious level, I always behaved better after reading. In fact, some of the cures that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle comes up with are thoroughly entertaining. To cure Fetlock Harroway of his compulsive lying, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s collection of friendly farm animals assure him that there isn’t really a reason for Fetlock to lie and that he is a wonderful boy just the way he is. ‘The Radish Cure’ introduces us to Patsy Waters, who dislikes bathing. As such, Patsy’s mother Mrs. Waters is advised by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to leave Patsy alone for long enough that radishes can be planted on her to prove a point. I’ve always wondered about why MacDonald chose radishes as the vegetable to plant on Patsy—is it because they can be harvested quickly? However, there is also a darker side to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s various cures, so to speak. To cure Allen of taking super tiny bites in ‘The Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker Cure,’ Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle presents his mother with a set of specially-made dishes made to serve smaller and smaller portions until Allen runs out of energy and loses the ability to function. Upon revisiting that particular story, I find myself slightly concerned that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is in a sense advocating starving Allen – even if only for a short amount of time. When Allen’s mother voices this concern, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle appears to be not very bothered, as if she’s absolutely sure that her remedy will work. The fact that it might not doesn’t seem to have registered. However, in the vein of Roald Dahl, who I still view as one of the most successful children’s storyteller of all time, no children’s tale is complete without a retrospective nugget or two to worry (or perhaps even intrigue) the parents. In short, despite some slightly alarming realisations that have since become obvious to me as an adult reader, the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series is a charming gem for children, which quite accurately encapsulates growing up in idyllic 1950s America. This bit is particularly dear to me as someone who has grown up in a small-town environment. Acting both as a fun advice column and maybe additionally as slightly tongue-in-cheek cautionary tales for the young reader, the Mrs Piggle-Wiggle series is overall a gentle, motherly breeze from the past, and well worth a look.

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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Betty MacDonald and Fru Pille-Ville


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‘Anybody can have tuberculosis…’

THE PLAGUE AND I, by Betty MacDonald, originally published in in the UK in 1948, my edition 1959 (boy, do I love old Penguins)…
cover 
One of my favourites, for years and years. I can’t remember when I first encountered The Plague and I, but certain expressions and catchphrases from it have passed into our family shorthand, so my guess is that my parents loved it too.’Toecover’, for instance, a word that describes a hand-made object of uncertain usage and all-too-certain unpleasantness. Ideally, a toecover should have no discernible function, and – in my opinion – involve limp crochet in some respect. Then there’s ‘Hush ma mouth, what have ah said?’, delivered in a clichéd Southern accent. This should be deployed after the ostensibly inadvertent revelation of some fact that has got the speaker into trouble, and is ironically directed at the person who has given the game away. Then – no, enough already. You get the idea. This should not be a funny book. Absolutely not, no way, it’s about a stay in a 1930s tuberculosis sanatorium, for heaven’s sake – and yet it is. Hilarious, even laugh-out-loud funny in parts, and yet those parts are interspersed with more serious stuff. I recently lent it to a friend who had to spend some time in hospital, and she not only loved it, finding it funny too, but also found it relevant. As she said, ‘times change, but people don’t.’
betty macdonald 
In the late 1930s Betty MacDonald – who had led a slightly unconventional life but who had, as yet, not committed any of it to paper (her best-known book is probably The Egg and I, about her first marriage to a chicken farmer and which came out in 1945) – developed a series of colds, then a cough, then extreme tiredness… But, ‘operating under the impression that I was healthy and that everyone who worked felt the same as I did’, failed to put two and two together. In all fairness, so did a series of doctors (largely because she consulted each specialist about his – and I mean his – own area), until she was finally diagnosed with TB. Tuberculosis, of course, could be tantamount to a death sentence. As it can now, sometimes – but then there were no drugs which worked against it and it was horribly prevalent. It’s also highly contaigious and MacDonald caught hers from a co-worker who managed to infect several other people as well. As a single mother with two small children and a negligible income, she was luckily admitted to a charitable sanatorium in Seattle, which she calls ‘The Pines’ in the book. She was to stay at Firland Sanatorium for nine months, in 1937-8, and emerged cured.
Firland ward 
The picture she creates is so vivid that this is one of those books where the mental images generated are so strong that they dominate even when you see contradictory pictures of the place that inspired them. The echoing, draughty corridors, the never-ending cold, the sound of invisible footsteps approaching, passing and then fading into the distance… but it’s not depressing, even in the serious phases. It’s populated by a cast of characters, all of whom I find exceptionally well drawn and entertaining. They range from Betty’s family and her near-constant companion in The Pines, Kimi Sanbo, to the miscellaneous array of nurses and other patients such as Gravy Face and Granite Eyes (two nurses); Charlie who loved to pass on depressing news of deaths and disasters; Minna of the Southern drawl and ability to dump people in the cacky… there are so many of them, so well delineated, that picking just a few to mention here was difficult. But space has to be made for Miss Gillespie of the Ambulant Hospital’s occupational therapy shop, generator of many a toecover:

‘Miss Gillespie was physically and mentally exactly what you’d expect the producer of hand-painted paper plates to be. She had a mouth so crowded with false teeth it looked as if she had put in two sets … and her own set of rules. One of these rules was that women patients could not use the basement lavatory because “the men will see you go in there and know what you go in there for”. Another forbade the pressing of men’s trousers by women, on the grounds that such intimate contact with male garments was unseemly.’
MacDonald is extremely good at expressing the life of any closed institution. The way the world narrows down; the way rumours (‘all based on a little bit of truth’) start, expand and spread; the effect of being thrown into involuntary contact with people you would normally avoid, and the intensity of the resulting reactions. (‘…the major irritation of all was my room-mate, who was so damned happy all the time, so well adjusted. She loved the institution and the institution loved her. She loved all the nurses and the nurses loved her. She loved all the other patients and all the other patients, but one, loved her. That one used to lie awake in the long dark cold winter nights and listen hopefully for her breathing to stop.’) It was a tough regime, but it had to be – no drugs, remember. TB was essentially treated by rest and some basic chest operations; there had to be rules. But there was also the pointless expression of power indulged in by some: ‘ “We do not tell the patients the rules, Mrs Bard. We find that trial and error method is the best way to learn them.” I said, “But how can I be obedient, co-operative, and helpful if I don’t know what I’m supposed to do?” She said, “We don’t allow arguing, Mrs Bard”…‘ She is also very good on how difficult it is to adapt to life afterwards, describing what could almost be a type of Stockholm Syndrome. But she did shake herself free, and the TB didn’t reappear.
So yes, a sort of happy ending. ‘Sort of’ because Betty MacDonald died in 1958, from cancer, at the age of only 49.  I’m sure she would have been surprised and possibly flattered to know that people were still enjoying her books over fifty years later. I most certainly am. Great book.

2 thoughts on “‘Anybody can have tuberculosis…’”


  1. biblioglobal
    I hadn’t heard of Egg and I, but the name Betty MacDonald sounded familiar. Looking her up, it turns out she wrote the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books that I loved as a kid!
    Reply
  2. Caroline Counihan
    Betty Macdonald’s hilarious chronicles of frightful experiences were huge favourites in our house too….what a shame they are out of print. Making fun of personal horrors is out of fashion now, one is expected to bare one’s soul in full but poker-faced, and there is almost a feeling that to make others laugh at any aspect of one’s tragic story is to belittle oneself or the t s. To my mind nothing is more admirable than to seek out and present the funny side of one’s experiences, it can only help others in the same fix to cope, surely? As well as oneself
    Reply