Wednesdays with David: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Story and Pictures by Virginia Lee Burton

Houghton Mifflin 1939

Mike Mulligan and his beloved steam shovel Mary Anne can't find any work. They have been replaced by electric, gasoline, and diesel shovels. When he reads that the small town of Popperville is building a new town hall, they travel there to get the job. Mike Mulligan boasts that Mary Anne can complete the job in one day - that she can dig as much as one hundred men could in a week (at least he thinks she can). The two friends get the job and start the work, but can they complete it in time? 

This is a really sweet, fun book. It shows a simpler time when the school would let out for the day to watch something interesting in town and there was a telephone operator who could call the surrounding towns to come and watch a construction job. Of course, it has the standard boy dosage of steam shovels and other machines. But this is a lovely book for boys and girls, and this mom isn't minding reading it daily either (at least until it goes back to the library). 

Thoughts from David: Why do you like this book? “Probably because I love it really really much."

What is your favorite part? “When they are very sad because of the diesels and gas and electric shovels.”

Happy Reading from David and Lindsey!