Read Mike Mulligan y su máquina maravillosa Spanish Edition Virginia Lee Burton 9780395861349 Books

Product details Age Range 4 - 7 years Grade Level Preschool - 3 Lexile Measure 580 (What's this?) Paperback 48 pages Publisher HMH Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (October 30, 1997) Language Spanish ISBN-10 9780395861349

Mike Mulligan y su máquina maravillosa Spanish Edition Virginia Lee Burton 9780395861349 Books Reviews

• I am so sad to say that this edition has been cut and bowdlerized. Do not purchase. It leaves half the story out and it is the half of the story that builds suspense. Mike agrees to dig the cellar in one day or not get paid. This part is extremely important. Yet, it has been cut completely out of the book! Several other sentences and whole pages were cut as well. And the "redemption" of the greedy selectman, Henry B. Swap, has also been cut. Sadly, I bought it in the fall, but since my child had so many new books for birthday and Christmas we are just getting to it now, or else I would $6 back.
• I am a huge Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel book. I remember it as a child, raised all my children reading it and now on a grandchild. After he destroyed the hardback I thought I'd be smart and order the board book. GUESS WHAT! THE BOARD BOOKS HAVE BEEN EDITED!!! Much of the rhythm of this wonderful children's book has been removed! UGH! I've contacted the publisher hoping it was just an error in printing. Nope, that's the way they've formatted it. I'm returning because it's not the true Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann book.
• My mother was a frequent visitor to used book stores while we were growing up (when you have ten children, you learn to live life in thrifty ways) and, when I saw Mike Mulligan on 's list of 100 Children's Books to Read in a Lifetime, it brought back memories of reading a battered copy of this book to my younger brothers (which always seemed to inspire them to gather their old Tonka trucks and head outside for some excavating of their own!) I'd mentioned to my dad (born the year before the Great Depression ended in 1939, the year this book was first published) that I'd just purchased the 75th anniversary edition of Mike Mulligan for my grandkids and - even though he was stricken with Alzheimer's years ago, it brought an instant smile of recognition... this was a book he remembered from his childhood as well!
  
  As soon as you open this book, the old-fashioned illustrations take you back to what was a simpler time, but also an extremely stressful time - the end of the longest and most far-reaching economic downturn in our nation's history (at its lowest point, 13-15 million Americans were out of work, close to half of the banks had failed, a time when bread lines and soup kitchens were the norm, with foreclosures and repossessions leading to rising numbers of homeless as people lost their jobs - just as Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel named Mary Anne do, as steam shovels are quickly being replaced by power shovels. The deep hole Mike and Mary Anne find themselves in with no way out feels reflective of that period. It was a time when loyalty, trust, faith and ingenuity was about all you had to get by on, and the deep friendship between Mike and Mary Anne is a perfect example of that. 1939 was the year American industry shifted into high gear with WW II, when pulling together to support the troops was everything, including re-purposing of various items for new usages... just as Mary Anne becomes re-purposed as a furnace for a new town hall, for which Mike becomes the janitor - still together through it all. It was interesting to discover that Mary Anne's name was based on the Marion, Ohio's Marion Steam Shovel Company, re-named the Marion Power Shovel Company after the change from steam to diesel power within the industry had taken hold. (Sadly, after being sold, spun off, and then integrated into the product line of a long time rival, the Marion facility was closed.)
  
  This 75th Anniversary edition is a beautiful book (with instructions on how to download a free audiobook on the first page)... some of the pages are pretty wordy, so I don't know that it would hold the attention of a 2 year old, but I think our 4-1/2 year old grandson will do fine with it - the words are very simple, and are displayed in interesting configurations (many of the pages have the lines of words in a slanted fashion, which sort of reminds me of a big load of words Mary Anne might lift!), and though the imprinted $17.99 price on the cover seems a bit hefty for a 44-page book, this is one of the true classics (which the National Education Association places among the "Teachers' Top 100 Books") - one we'll be happy to place into the hands of our grandchildren. My favorite thing about the story is the sense of dignity and respect with which Mike and Mary Anne are treated in the end, after all of their years of hard work. If only all American workers could look forward to the same treatment!
• I bought this item because it is a read along book, and specifies that it includes an audio CD. However, it came without a CD. So I requested a replacement copy, which also came without a CD. I have been incredibly busy, so just found a different birthday gift for my young nephew. When I eventually had time to look into sending back this replacement copy, the window of time had expired. Now I’m stuck with a children’s book that advertises right on the dust jacket that it includes a CD, but it doesn’t. Avoid buying this product.
• This was a childhood favorite of my brothers, so I purchased it a while ago for his children. It has been read over and over and delightfully received. My brother and his family visited recently and I had the opportunity to read it to the children. What a delight! It's still as good and evoked just as much wonder in them as I remember when I was a child. Great timeless children's book. Beautiful, hand drawn illustrations. Love it!
• I was read this story as a child by my grandmother over 30 years ago and remember it fondly, now I can read it to my kids with the hope they will remember it too. The story is one of determination and triumph. Even though it was written in the 1930s the message still holds true today.
• Classic children's story book. My mother read it to my brother and me as kids, I read it to my kids and I just bought it (along with several other classics) for my brother's grandson for Christmas. I know he will love it - and it will bring back fond memories to my brother as well.
• BEAUTIFUL BOOK!! I remember listening to Captain Kangaroo read this book on his tv show and the pictures showing on the screen. It still makes me smile. We purchased this book as a Christmas Gift for my grandson. He will enjoy it for years to come. My son was thrilled that we found it (really is it that hard to find anything you want on , I think not) and is ready to start reading. It's a lovely story with a sweet ending. A good old fashioned story book. I can't see how it could disappoint anyone.