Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton, 0395259398, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

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 reading the story for himself too.

This is a touching story as fresh today as it was when first written in 1939 a great book for dads to read to their sons at bedtime

A classic story with warm, active pictures

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

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. In the 20th-century a slightly different lesson was offered up in Virginia Lee Burton's children's classic "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel." The Steam Shovel in question is named Mary Anne and all you have to do is see the glint in her eye and the smile on her "lips" to know that she is special. Unfortunately, there are new gasoline shovels and new electric shovels and even shovels with diesel motors, and there is little left for an old steam shovel to do. ... The illustrations from this 1939 classic are charming and quaint, but that is the nature of this tale and even in the 21st-century where atomic shovels may be around the corner, there is still a valuable lesson to be learned from "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" about how doing a job well means you will always find a place in the world.

Mikey rocks my world

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.

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. I have always wanted a new copy for myself and now have a good reason to buy one. My three month old daughter. I hope she enjoys and remembers it for as long as I have. Perhaps it is the reason I beacame an Architect?

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