Summary
A modern classic that no child should miss. Since it was first published in 1939, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel has delighted generations of children.
Mike and his trusty steam shovel, Mary Anne, dig deep canals for boats to travel through, cut mountain passes for trains, and hollow out cellars for city skyscrapers.
But with progress come new machines, and soon the inseparable duo are out of work. Mike believes that Mary Anne can dig as much in a day as one hundred men can dig in a week, and the two have one last chance to prove it and save Mary Anne from the scrap heap.
What happens next in the small town of Popperville is a testament to their friendship and to old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity.
Virginia Lee Burton was born August 30, 1909 in Massachusetts. She was an author and illusrator of children's books.
Her titles include Maybelle the Cable Car, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and Choo Choo: The Story of a Little Engine Who Ran Away. In 1942, she won the Caldecott Medal for her title, The Little House.
Burton died on October 15, 1968 in Massachusetts.
(Bowker Author Biography)
