Mike Mulligan has a steam shovel, a beautiful read steam shovel. Her name is Mary Anne. Mike Mulligan digs the great canals, railways and highways. He digs the foundations of skyscrapers and the landing fields for aeroplanes. But when the gasoline, diesel and electric shovels arrive, it looks like Mary would be sold for junk, unless Mike can think of a really special job...
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Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
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Amazon Review
Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel Mary Anne make quite a team. The inseparable duo digs the great canals for the big boats to travel through, cuts through the large mountains so that the trains could pass and hollows out the deep cellars for the great skyscrapers in the city. But the introduction of gasoline, electric and diesel shovels means big trouble for Mike and Mary Anne. No one wants an old-fashioned steam shovel like Mary Anne when a modern shovel can do the digging in half the time! Forced to travel far out of the city to look for work, Mike and Mary Anne find themselves in the little town of Popperville. Mike and Mary Anne make a bid to dig the cellar for the new town hall, promising the town that if they can't dig the cellar in just one day then no payment for the job is required. Will Mike and Mary Anne be able to complete the job? The whole town of Popperville turns out to watch. Virginia Lee Burton, author of such classic children's books as The Little House and Katy and the Big Snow, offers a touching portrait of love and dedication while commenting on the modernization that continuously shapes our lives. Hamilton's wonderful crayon drawings bring Mike and the indomitable Mary Anne to life.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"This is fun both in its text and gray crayon drawings. Mike Mulligan remains faithful to his steam shovel Mary Anne, against the threat of the new gas and diesel-engine contraptions, and digs his way to a surprising and happy ending." The New Yorker
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
Mike Mulligan had a steam shovel, a beautiful red steam shovel. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Mike Mulligan had a steam shovel, a beautiful red steam shovel. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The cover of this book is the same as my old, dog-eared copy from my childhood 30 years ago. A Caldecott Award winner, the pictures drive the tale as much as the plot. An excellent book from cover-to-cover.
Re-reading it now brings back great memories and fascination of how Mike Mulligan and his beloved steam shovel worked hard to accomplish a fantastic task. Whenever people watched them dig, they always worked a little better and a little faster.
A modern John Henry, Mike faces the challenge of new technology. Undaunted, like the famous hammer-driving tall tale hero, he struggles to meet the task. Can he dig a hole faster than the new machine? Can he and his mighty red-metal friend do it by the end of the day?
A great story of perseverence and hard work, I fully recommend "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel." Place it on your shelf next to "Make Way for Dcklings" and "Where the Wild Things Are."
Anthony Trendl
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was born in 1978 and my Mum had found this book in a jumble sale somewhere. It is my favourite childhood book, bar none. I just cannot rave enough about this book - it fills me with fondness every time I even look at the cover.
It is a true gem and I'm so glad I can now buy another copy.
It is a true gem and I'm so glad I can now buy another copy.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:School & Library Binding
I was born in 1961 and this is the one book I remember from my childhood in the 60's. It is a simple story of a steam shovel that digs a basement for a building and forgets to leave a route out, so finally becomes the boiler for the heating system. All that is from memory - 30+ years ago!! Whilst I was oblivious to the flower power revolution going on all around me and bored with the beatles all the time, I could read this book over and over again. I am glad to be able to find it now via Amazon and am buying it for my children to read (and me!). I just hope they get as much pleasure as I did.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still a great children's story
Even though it was written in the 30's, I loved this story when my mother read it to me and my brother when I was a child in the 70's, and I'm enjoying reading it to my children... Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2011 by Tim Jervis
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet old-fashioned story.
My husband enjoyed having this story read to him as a child, so we bought it for our son, who at 5 months is a bit too young for it! Read more
Published on 6 April 2010 by NewMummy2009
5.0 out of 5 stars
Never mind your JCB's, mega trucks etc this is from a bygone era.
I used to read this book to my little brother when he was about 5 or 6 and I loved the way the storey speeds up with the need for Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann (his steam shovel) to... Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2010 by A. F. Davies
5.0 out of 5 stars
gloriously nostalgic feel good story
with its vibrant drawings bringing to life a bygone age and an excellent story my 6 year old son who loves all things steam adores hearing this story time and again and enjoys... Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2006 by woolyPULI
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can Mike Mulligan & Mary Anne dig a cellar in just one day?
In the 19th-century it was the story of John Henry the steel-driving man who lost a race to a machine. Read more
Published on 4 July 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mike Mulligan & His Steam Showel
I read this book as a child in Srilanka(Born 1965). It was the only childrens book that I remember reading. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2003 by "amal1965"
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic - loved by me and by my 3 year old
It's incredible to believe this was written in the 1930s! A fable of optimism, hard work, flexiblity and skill retraining in the face of being made obsolete by technology - it... Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2002 by wombat
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