Virginia Lee Burton's books

With snow in the forecast, there is  much discussion of snow plows.  There are lads beside themselves with excitement at the prospect of driving their Tonka trucks through the snow in the backyard, there is one lass who is very determined to put her boots on and get out there too, and there is Virginia Lee Burton's Katy and the Big Snow.   It's one of our favorite books.

Katy is a big tractor at the disposal of the town of Geoppolis.  After one doozy of a blizzard, she dons a snow plow and clears streets otherwise impassable even for other snow plows.  With dogged determination she keeps working until the doctor can get his patient to the hospital, the firetruck can get to the fire, and the rest of the city get on with life. 

We first met Burton's magical work in Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, about one old-fashioned steam shovel named Mary Anne and her devoted operator Mike Mulligan who wouldn't relegate her to the junkyard in favor of one of those new-fangled gasoline-, electric- or diesel-powered shovels.  He claims he and Mary Anne can do the work of 100 men in no time flat.  After some high-profile jobs digging canals for ocean liners and cellars for skyscrapers, Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne are left to find work outside the limelight.  Modern times might have meant the end of the steam shovel in most places, but Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne find a way to keep serving together.

Time, progress, and efficiency play a central role in Burton's The Little House, about a house built in the country that watches a city grow up around it.  The house is abandoned and falls into disrepair, but eventually a descendant of the house's original owners returns to love it back to life.   This book won the Caldecott Medal in 1942 for illustrations. 

As in The Little House, Maybelle the Cable Car centers on a symbol of a bygone era and its struggle to stay current.  In San Francisco the cable cars have long been a fixture of public transportation, but there is a faction of folks who think they should be replaced by buses and other more modern and efficient vehicles.  Maybelle and her sister cable cars show they are still as relevant as ever in serving the city's transportation needs.

One of the all stars of children's literature, Virginia Lee Burton illustrated the charming stories she wrote in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s with intricate detail.  They are a visual feast and auditory pleasure for both the one reading aloud and the one(s) listening -- almost enough to distract from the wonder of powdered snow outside the window when it's time to thaw out from all that cavorting through the stuff, if only for a little while....