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Summary: Timeless classic
Review: Given that this book is still in print over 50 years after its original publication, I don't know if I can add a lot to the legacy. I would tell you all that this book is just as fun and enthralling to children today as it was when it was written. My 3 year old has read it every night for the past 2 weeks. If it is any one book that teaches him to read, it'll be this one. The drawings are colorful and intricate, and the text is easy to read and easy to follow. This classic should be on every kid's bookshelf.
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Summary: Junior Civil Engineering?
Review: While in college, I stumbled upon a copy of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and instantly remembered that it had been one of my very favorites so long ago. Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House is also dear to me. I am now a 22 year old civil enginering graduate student! The warmth and insight of these books should not just be reserved for boys!
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Summary: Henry B. Swap learns a lesson
Review: Few of us have ever seen a steam shovel in action, even we who had this great story read to us the first time around, back in '39. The diesel shovel digging out the neighbor's cellar down the street just didn't have the personality of Mary Anne and the operators didn't seem to have the determination of Mike Mulligan, though they always left a cellar ramp clear so they could get out when they were done. But the tension in this story builds as the sun gets high in the sky and goes down so fast, as the dirt flies, the townfolks cheer and the job gets done only to have Henry B. Swap smile in his "rather mean way" when it is discovered that no exit was dug for Mary Anne to get out of the hole. Then "the little boy," who might have been me, or might have been my daughter when I read the story to her, or my grandson when I read the story to him, comes up with the idea that makes Ol' Henry B. Swap "smile in a way that wasn't quite so mean." And finally, in semi-retirement, Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne don't have to compete any longer with the new-fangled machines and Henry B. Swap is there, "smiling in a way that isn't mean at all." There in Poppervile they have the contentment in aging that is worth dreaming about. One of the Great Books!
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Summary: Wonderful book for any age/gender! My childhood favorite!
Review: This book teaches children not to give up on their dreams or to doubt their abilities. That when you want to do something, no matter what happens, you can find a way to succeed.
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Summary: This is the only book my 2 year can sit through.
Review: In fact, this book appeals to a wide range of ages, up to perhaps 8 years. Clearly the best of Virginia Burton's books, by far.
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Summary: Mike and his shovel find a use.
Review: This is a well-known children's book first published in 1939 about an Irish-American worker whose steam shovel is soon out-of-work due to the arrival of newer electric, diesel, and gasoline-powered shovels. Yet, Mike and his shovel are still able to find a job and still be useful. No matter how out-of-date one may be, there is always value and usefulness!
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Summary: I was raised on this book!
Review: Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel taught me how the world worked. The author showed how the very best work you do can lead to your own obsolescence and how you must overcome these obstacles as they present themselves in life.
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Summary: Great reading for little boys
Review: I loved it when I was little and I am happy that my little boy loves it too. I remember my grandpa reading it to me! It is still a great story! It is very exciting and full of suspense.
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Summary: Personal Childhood Favorite
Review: Growing up, my older brother was OBSESSED with all things that were at all related to construction, big tools and trucks in general. Naturally, a book about a steamshovel that could dig a foundation in one day became an instant hit in our house. This book must have been read an average of five times a day (no exaggeration there), rebound three times and finally covered entirely in contact paper to hold together the love-tattered pages. I keep that original copy on the book shelf that holds my most cherished posessions and anticipate with delight the opportunity to share this book with my children. It is my favorite gift to give the mother of a newborn baby boy and i recommend it with enthusiasm and joy. Enjoy it as my family, friends and i have.
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Summary: Industrial Society vs. a Steamshovel
Review: Though the steamshovel herself is a part of industrial society, she is a component that connects directly to humankind. With the advent of the new mindless steamshovels, that connection will be lost. This story consists of a compromise, which sadly allows for the mindlessness to overtake the world, while still keeping the pleasent human-like steamshovel around as a usefull part of the world as a whole.
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