{"product_id":"looking-for-betty-macdonald-the-egg-the-plague-mrs-piggle-wiggle-and-i-9780295746074","title":"Looking for Betty MacDonald: The Egg, the Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and I","description":"\u003cp\u003eBetty Bard MacDonald (1907-1958), the best-selling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Egg and I\u003c\/i\u003e and the classic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle children's books, burst onto the literary scene shortly after the end of World War II. Readers embraced her memoir of her years as a young bride operating a chicken ranch on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, and \u003ci\u003eThe Egg and I\u003c\/i\u003e sold its first million copies in less than a year. The public was drawn to MacDonald's vivacity, her offbeat humor, and her irreverent take on life. In 1947, the book was made into a movie starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert, and spawned a series of films featuring MacDonald's Ma and Pa Kettle characters. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMacDonald followed up the success of \u003ci\u003eThe Egg and I\u003c\/i\u003e with the creation of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, a magical woman who cures children of their bad habits, and with three additional memoirs: \u003ci\u003eThe Plague and I\u003c\/i\u003e (chronicling her time in a tuberculosis sanitarium just outside Seattle), \u003ci\u003eAnybody Can Do Anything\u003c\/i\u003e (recounting her madcap attempts to find work during the Great Depression), and \u003ci\u003eOnions in the Stew\u003c\/i\u003e (about her life raising two teenage daughters on Vashon Island). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAuthor Paula Becker was granted full access to Betty MacDonald's archives, including materials never before seen by any researcher. \u003ci\u003eLooking for Betty MacDonald\u003c\/i\u003e, a biography of this endearing Northwest storyteller, reveals the story behind the memoirs and the difference between the real Betty MacDonald and her literary persona.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWatch the book trailer: https: \/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_Lr6iVK4zWk\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003ePaula Becker\u003c\/b\u003e is a staff historian at HistoryLink.org. She is the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World's Fair and Its Legacy\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAlaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Washington's First World Fair\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Washington Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50525270180114,"sku":"9780295746074","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_09bbf038-d572-40ee-990f-9bd58e43e1b8.jpg?v=1731211550","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/looking-for-betty-macdonald-the-egg-the-plague-mrs-piggle-wiggle-and-i-9780295746074","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}