Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (ISBN 0-590-75803-9) is a classic children's book by Virginia Lee Burton

Virginia Lee Burton

Virginia Lee Burton was an American illustrator and children's book author. Burton wrote and illustrated seven self-illustrated children's books, including the Caldecott Medal winning The Little House. Also known by her married name Virginia Demetrios. She died in 1968 of lung cancer...

, the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Medal

Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...

-winning The Little House

The Little House

The Little House is the title of a 1942 book written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton.-Inspiration:Author Virginia Lee Burton has stated that "The Little House was based on our own little house which we moved from the street into "a field of daisies with apple trees growing around." Burton...

. First published in 1939, it features Mike Mulligan, a steam shovel

Steam shovel

A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. They played a major role in public works in the 19th and early 20th century, being key to the construction of railroads...

 operator, and his steam shovel "Mary Anne" (whose name was based on Marion Steam Shovels).

Plot

After many years of working successfully together, Mike and Mary Anne face competition from modern, diesel-powered shovels. Seeking an area of the country where his less modern steam shovel can still find work, Mike finds a small town that is about to build a new town hall. The authorities react with disbelief when Mike makes the claim that he and his steam shovel Mary Anne can dig the cellar in a single day; they protest that it would take a hundred men a week. Mike insists that Mary Anne can indeed finish the job in one day, though he has some private doubts.

At sun-up the next day, Mike and Mary Anne begin work and just manage to complete the task by sundown. However, they have neglected to dig themselves a ramp so they can drive out. A child who had been watching makes the suggestion that Mike take the job of janitor for the town hall, and that Mary Anne should become the boiler for the town hall's heating system.

Film Adaptation

In the 1992, HBO created an animated short of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, complete with music. It was released on video by Golden Video (a partner company of Golden Books). The video was released to DVD by Scholastic Books, along with movies of twenty-seven other classic children's books. It can be viewed in three parts on Youtube.com.

Curious footnotes

On page 39 of the book's original edition, a footnote appears in which the idea of converting Mary Anne into a furnace is attributed to "Dickie Birkenbush." In fact, the footnote was misspelled; it was intended to refer to Dick Berkenbush. According to an article in The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

, the idea was suggested during a dinner table conversation:

At dinner on Chestnut Hill that evening, the author told the Albertsons and Berkenbushes about her dilemma. She had written Mike and Mary Anne into a literal corner -- they were stuck in the hole they dug for the Town Hall basement. Dick, then about 12 years old, suggested the steam shovel could become the building's heating source. It was a simple notion, he said. "My father had a garage in town that had a steam heating system, so I was familiar with it."

In the American independent film , the book appears close to the start of the film under the projector in the bedroom.

This story was occasionally read by Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan

Bob Keeshan

Robert James "Bob" Keeshan was an American television producer and actor. He is most notable as the title character of the children's television program Captain Kangaroo, which became an icon for millions of people during its 30-year run from 1955 to 1984.Keeshan also played the original...

) on his show