Cover of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

A modern classic that no child should miss. Since it was first published in 1939, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel has delighted generations of children. Mike and his trusty steam shovel, Mary Anne, dig deep canals for boats to travel through, cut mountain passes for trains, and hollow out cellars for city skyscrapers — the very symbol of industrial America. But with progress come new machines, and soon the inseparable duo are out of work. Mike believes that Mary Anne can dig as much in a day as one hundred men can dig in a week, and the two have one last chance to prove it and save Mary Anne from the scrap heap. What happens next in the small town of Popperville is a testament to their friendship, and to old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity.

Audience
childrenspicture booksyoung adult
Length
short · 56 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Miss Rumphius Shares childrens, picture books, childhood
  2. Miss Nelson Is Missing! Shares childrens, picture books, childhood
  3. The Caboose Who Got Loose Shares childrens, picture books, childhood
  4. Lentil Shares childrens, picture books, five in a row

“People who read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Ox-Cart Man
  2. Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
  3. Free onlineFree Millions of Cats
  4. Angus and the Cat

“If you want more of the same (fantasy about childhood), start with these.”

  1. D.W.'s Guide to Preschool
  2. Smokey
  3. The Kweeks of Kookatumdee
  4. I Spy Gold Challenger: A Book of Picture Riddles

“If it was the childhood that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Bread and Jam for Frances
  2. George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends
  3. Madeline and the Gypsies
  4. The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. The Diggers
  2. All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel
  3. Blackwood
  4. The Great Elephant Chase