Muggie Maggie is a 1990 early reader’s chapter book by renowned children’s book author Beverly Cleary. In the story, third grader Maggie Schultz is offended when her parents make light of her concerns about learning cursive writing. On a whim, Maggie decides to refuse to learn cursive and insists that it is useless since she can print and type. Maggie’s stubbornness about cursive exasperates her parents, teachers, classmates—and even herself. However, when Maggie becomes the “Message Monitor,” she realizes that she must learn cursive so that she can decode her teacher’s private messages to the principal. Through Maggie’s story, Cleary explores themes of Learning From Failure, The Influence of Peer Relationships on Children, and Children’s Expressions of Independence.

This guide refers to the HarperCollins e-book edition.

Plot Summary

Third grader Maggie Schultz arrives home from her first day of school, enthusiastically greeting her dog, Kisser, and her parents. When Maggie reveals that her class will soon learn cursive writing, her parents laugh at her dramatic attitude and assure her that she will like it. Maggie’s feelings are hurt, and she decides that she will not like cursive writing or even try to learn it at all. At school, Maggie’s teacher, Mrs. Leeper, begins to teach the class cursive writing. She compares it to a rollercoaster and encourages the kids to practice their flowing strokes and loops. Maggie, however, refuses to participate, though she still critiques her parents’ cursive writing at home.

Maggie begins to do some cursive writing, but she models her style on her parents’ incorrect handwriting form. Mrs. Leeper has a conference with Maggie’s mother, and Maggie meets with both the school principal and the school psychologist, but none of these meetings motivate Maggie to work on her cursive. Maggie’s parents are bewildered by her contrary behavior, and even Maggie starts to wish that she had not been so stubborn and started such a fuss about cursive writing, but she feels like she cannot back down.

Maggie gains a reputation among her classmates as the stubborn girl who refuses to learn cursive. While Maggie says that she just doesn’t want to, she worries that her classmates will think she can’t do it. When her teacher asks the kids to practice their signatures, Maggie decides to comply, but in her parents’ flawed cursive style. However, she is embarrassed when her teacher points out that she misspelled her name as “Muggie” rather than “Maggie,” earning her the nickname “Muggie Maggie” from her classmates.

Maggie is excited to receive a new pen from her father’s secretary, Ms. Madden. She prints a thank you note, apologizing for her poor penmanship, and sends it to Ms. Madden. Maggie is upset by Ms. Madden’s reply, which suggests that she could have copied her letter more neatly, and she feels like grown-ups are picking on her.

Maggie is alarmed to realize that while the rest of her classmates can now read in cursive, she cannot. When Mrs. Leeper makes her the “Message Monitor,” Maggie cannot resist peeking at her and the principal’s notes. Because they are in cursive, Maggie cannot read them, but she recognizes her own name as one of the words. Now intrigued, Maggie decides to learn how to read cursive after all.

Maggie becomes quite busy carrying letters from Mrs. Leeper to the principal and other teachers. Curious to know what they say, Maggie decides to master cursive writing and studies it the whole weekend. However, she keeps it a secret that she has been working on cursive since she does not want to admit that she was wrong to be so stubborn.

Maggie can successfully read Mrs. Leeper’s cursive notes on the board. When she delivers a message to the principal, she is embarrassed by her teacher’s message, which confirms to him that Maggie can read in cursive. The principal responds positively, congratulating Maggie and Mrs. Leeper for their success. While Maggie at first feels confused and humiliated by her teacher’s elaborate trick, she is pleased that the principal and Mrs. Leeper are so happy for her success. She decides that she will cooperate and use cursive after all.