Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Series

These classic books written mid-20^th century have an old-fashioned charm and infectious silliness that will tickle the funny bone of contemporary kids. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is a throwback to an earlier age when kids were free to roam their neighborhoods and hang out at the home of a woman living alone -- the wife of a dead pirate! She's a favorite because she's something of a big kid herself, never too grown-up to get down on the floor with them and play. What kids wouldn't love someone who lets them dig up her yard in search of buried treasure? The behavior "cures" found in the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series are palatable because, at heart, she loves and understands the kids, and her guidance allows kids to take their behavior to absurd and therefore very funny lengths.

Many of the characters have seriously silly names, like Mrs. Wingsproggle and Mrs. Crankminor, or highfalutin' ones like Paraphernalia and Pergola. No kid does anything too bad -- they quarrel with their siblings, refuse to pick up their toys -- so most kids will recognize themselves and have fun laughing at the book and themselves.