Betty MacDonald (1907-1958) was born in Boulder, Colorado, but lived most of her life in Seattle, Washington. She married Robert Heskett in 1927, and they had two daughters, Anne and Joan. They lived in a small community on a farm focused primarily on chickens. She left Robert, who struggled with addiction to alcohol and was abusive, in 1931 and then married Donald MacDonald in 1942. She published her first book, The Egg and I, a comedy memoir about her farming experience, in 1945. The book was a bestseller and was translated into numerous languages. She published The Plague and I in 1948—detailing her experience living in a sanatorium after contracting tuberculosis—then Anybody Can Do Anything (1950)—on experiences during The Great Depression—and Onions in the Stew (1955)—about her life with Don and her daughters on Vashon Island.

She began writing children’s literature based on stories she told to her daughters and other children, publishing Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (1947), Mrs. Piggle Wiggle’s Magic (1949), Mrs. Piggle Wiggle’s Farm (1954), and Hello, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (1957). She also wrote Nancy and Plum (1952), a Christmas story about two sisters living in a boarding house. Mrs.