Rating: 
Summary: Classic boys book
Review: Wonderful book of recycling and perseverance. Great illustrations although rememiscent of the 50's-which is good. A library favorite-husband favorite - my family loves this book.
Rating:
Summary: Just as Good as When I was Eight!
Review: I got this book when my daughter was 3 years old because I loved it when I got it in 1967! She adores it! In fact, she took to calling out at every construction site "there's Mary Anne, there's Mary Ann!" Her babysitter didn't get the connection and thought she was recognizing a neighbor -- she finally asked me "Who IS Mary Ann?" I responded by buying her children the book! Now, my daughter has invented names for all the machines who work with "Mary Ann" including Mary Lou (Back Loader), Mary Sue (Bulldozer) and Mary Beth (dump truck). My husband so loved this book he bought the Virgina Lee Burton anthology with all the stories, Choo Choo, Mabel, Mike & Mary Ann, and Katy. These books are just a timeless treasure!
Rating: 
Summary: Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel
Review: This book is about finding out that something or someone can still be useful and helpful even when other people might not think so. Mike and his shovel, Mary Anne, find out in the end that there is always more that you can do, even if it is something new and different from what you always did before. I recommend this book to all kids.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Encougaement Goes A Long Way
Review: In this story, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel Mary Anne, are the best and fastest diggers, untill the new high tech equiptment come around. Although Mike and Mary Anne are still the best and fastest, they get replaced just because they arn't the "new thing". When they hear about a job in Popperville, they head out to see if they will be able to get it, since they haven't had work in so long. They get the job, but only have one day to get the job done, otherwise, they won't get payed. Fortunalty, there are many people there to watch them work, which makes them work faster and better. Mike and Mary Anne come across a few problems along the way, though. You should read this story and find out what happens.
I think this story is great. It shows that new things arn't always as good as the old. Also, it shows that teamwork can get you where you want to be. In addition to that, it shows that encouagement helps out too. If you have people behind you and cheering you on, you usually do better. I think you should read this book, find out what happens, and learn from it. ~Hope K
Rating:
Summary: Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
Review: This wonderful book is a classic. It is about Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, named Mary Anne. They are the fastest digging team around. Mike thinks that she can dig as much in a day as one hundred men can dig in a week, but he's not sure. One day, gasoline shovels came along, and put all the steam shovels out of business. Mike and Mary Anne had to find work, so they go to the town of Popperville to dig their town hall. Mike has to dig the cellar in one day, or he won't be paid. Read this classic book written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton to find out!
Rating:
Summary: great GREAT book
Review: this was one of my dads favorite books when he was growing up and he read it to me and my brother and sister when we were growing up. I love the book and I actually bought it (a new copy) for my dad for christmas a few years ago and I plan on getting it for a family friends son who LOVES anything to do with tractors. I also dont agree with the statement that it is bad for gender roles. I mean, like someone said, mary ann is the star of the book and she IS a girl. and I know that I loved it growing up. I would totally suggest it! its a classic!
Rating:
Summary: A book every child should have at home!
Review: Can Mike and his steam shovel Mary Ann live up to Mike's claims? Can they really dig as much in a day as many men can in a week? This book is a true classic and must read for parents who want to instill a love of literature in their children. It has great illustrations and a storng message about the value of hard work and perserverence. It also is FUN to read. Get this book for your kids and then go out and play in the sand with them. You know you really want to!
Rating:
Summary: Girl (steam) power
Review: Well, contrary to Susan McGee's opinion, this book is great for girls and about girls. The gender-oriented language of "policeMEN", "fireMEN", etc is not straight out of the 1950's, it is in fact straight out of 1939 when the book was initially published. And in your obsessive noticing of all the "weak" women in the book, you overlooked MaryAnn- the heroine! Better than 100 men, SHE could dig a cellar in JUST ONE DAY!
I'm not overly crazy about this book. As one reviewer said, the detail is occasionally tedious for parents, but my kids love it and are riveted as the sun rises in the sky. That makes the book a winner for us. Not to mention that I like the message of not giving up on something/ someone just because something newer comes along. And my daughter loves it just as much as my son.
Rating:
Summary: A Winner Never Quits!
Review: Oh how wonderful this book is, in so many different ways. Written in the 40s, its illustrations hark back to an earlier era, when children were allowed to be children, and when the values we taught them were couched in terms that a child could understand. Instead of violence and video games. Mike Mulligan and his faithful steam shovel Mary Ann have been "downsized," if you will, by the advent of gasoline-powered engines, and other "modern miracles" that have made poor, faithful Mary Ann obsolete overnight. In order to find work, Mike and Mary Ann travel over hill and dale until they come to the small town of Popperville. There, they find that the town mayor is taking bids to dig the basement for a brand-new skyscraper. Mike makes a bid, and is met with laughter. But instead of giving up...INSTEAD OF GIVING UP...he makes a deal. He and Mary Ann will dig the basement in one day. If they don't make it, they won't accept payment. The valiant steamshovel and the equally valiant Mike set off to prove to the world that they are not obsolete, not worthless...just because they are old, just because they are now different, they still have value! And they dig, and they dig, and they dig. And soon they have attracted a large audience, all of whom are pulling for the team to win, even though it seems impossible. In the end, Mike and Mary Ann have prevailed. They have dug the basement in one day! But just when they are being celebrated as heroes, a terrible problem arises. Mary Ann cannot get back out of the hole. What is to happen? Was it all for nothing? The ingenious solution to the problem, and the sheer joy of the solution, warms my heart as much today as it ever did. This is a wonderful way of teaching children to persevere, to glory in their "otherness" and to grab life with both hands. It is a treasure, a classic becaue it deserves to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Capitalist Reactionary Garbage
Review: A structural children's "classic," Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel embodies the ideals of an industrial humanism that is the treat of progress in contemporary society. As a result of technological enhancements, Mike Mulligan's anthropomorphic steam-shovel, Mary-Ann, is rendered obsolete by the new gas and diesel-engine contraptions. Mike has apparently made an attachment to the mechanical monster that has enslaved him, and madly persues his own destruction in a frenzied rebellion against the future. The story paradoxically ends with Mike Mulligan being the victor, embodying the victory of obsolescence in the face of change. Give me a break.
|
