New Releases by Betty Mac Donald

The beloved memoirist recounts the unexpected charms and trials of family life on an island in the Puget Sound in this delightfully witty memoir. Betty MacDonald first regaled readers with tales of her floundering chicken farm in her 1945 memoir, The Egg and I. As she continued to share her "painfully, barkingly funny" stories of divorce, motherhood, tuberculosis, and other light subjects, MacDonald established herself as one of the great chroniclers of 20th century life in the Pacific Northwest ( The Guardian, UK). In Onions in the Stew, MacDonald's fourth and final memoir, she recounts the twelve years she and her family spent on the rough-and-tumble shores of Vashon Island in the Puget Sound, just a ferry ride away from Seattle. Writing in her signature style—"the tongue is still sharp for a ludicrous situation, a personality quirk and a self-turned jibe"—she tells of making a home despite terrible winters, perilous commutes to the mainland, less-than-loveable neighbors, and two daughters undergoing—yet somehow ultimately surviving—adolescence ( Kirkus, starred review).

When Betty MacDonald married a marine and moved to a small chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, she was largely unprepared for the rigors of life in the wild. With no running water, no electricity, a house in need of constant repair, and days that ran from four in the morning to nine at night, the MacDonalds had barely a moment to put their feet up and relax. And then came the children. Yet through every trial and pitfall--through chaos and catastrophe--this indomitable family somehow, mercifully, never lost its sense of humor. A beloved literary treasure for more than half a century, Betty MacDonald's The Egg and I is a heartwarming and uproarious account of adventure and survival on an American frontier.

centerMrs. Piggle-Wiggle has a trick up her sleeve centerMrs. Piggle-Wiggle loves everyone, and everyone loves her right back. The children love her because she is lots of fun. Their parents love her because she can cure children of absolutely any bad habit. The treatment are unusual, but they work! Who better than a pig, for instance, to teach a piggy little boy table manners? And what better way to cure the rainy-day "waddle-I-do's" than hunt for a pirate treasure in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's upside-down house?

Tuberculosis. A terrifying word, as terrifying then as cancer is now. It meant entering a sanatorium for treatment, leaving her family, her children. And what if she did not recover? Hardly the basis for comedy, one would suppose. And one would be wrong. Betty MacDonald always had the ability to face up to adversity -- and heaven knows she had enough in her life! -- so after the initial shock had passed, she proceeded to laugh at her illness, the other patients, the nurses, the doctors, and -- chiefly -- herself. Humor was her greatest medicine, right up to the day she left the sanatorium, cured. Of course she had her bad moments when despair and tragedy underlying what she saw and heard refused to be pushed into the background, but she had the grit and wit to rise above it. The result is a lively, cheerful and most funny book. In fact, it's a tonic.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is an extraordinarily magic little woman with a talent for curing children of their bad behaviors. She lives in an upside-down house and is the best friend of every child in town. Watch as she cleverly takes on a never go to bedder, cures a messy room, and more.

"Nancy and Plum" is a children's book written by the world famous author Betty McDonald, who wrote four popular "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle" children's books, and also the adult books, "The Egg & I", "Anybody Can Do Anything" and "Onion in the Stew". "Nancy and Plum" was first published in 1952. It is a story Betty told her daughters, Joan and Anne, each night at bedtime, making it up as she went along. It is a delightful old fashioned Christmas story about two sisters, Nancy, 10 and Plum, 8, whose parents died in an accident. Their surviving relative is Uncle John, a wealthy bachelor with little patience or time for children. He puts the girls in Mrs. Monday's Boarding School in Heavenly Valley, persuaded by Mrs. Monday's promises and unctuous manner, but she is a mean spirited woman who mistreats the children in her care (except her spoiled niece Maribelle). The sister's devotion to each other and their steadfast moral character wins them support from teachers at school and helps them secure a new and better future after various adventures.