Virginia Lee Burton

Big diesel machines threaten to run Mike Mulligan and his little old steam shovel, Mary Anne, out of business until Mike agrees to tackle a big job.

Since its publication in 1939, Virginia Lee Burton's Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel has delighted generations of children. Together, Mike and his red steam shovel named Mary Anne dig the great canals, cut through high mountains, lower the hills, and even make deep holes for skyscrapers. With the advent of more modernized shovels, however, Mary Anne is going to be sold for junk! Thanks to Mike's fierce loyalty to his friend, she is spared-and guaranteed...

Katy, a red crawler tractor, goes to work for the Highway Dept. of the city of Geoppolis.

Maybelle loves to carry people up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco, until the City Fathers decide that she should be taken out of service in the name of progress.

Publisher Annotation: Choo Choo, a shiny black engine, is tired of pulling heavy coaches day after day. ?I could go much faster and easier by myself, ? she says. So one day, Choo Choo takes off on an adventure.

Mike Mulligan proves that, although dated, his steam shovel is still useful.

Two rascally weavers convince the emperor they are making him beautiful new clothes, visible only to those fit for their posts, but during a royal procession in which he first wears them, a child whispers that the emperor has nothing on.

"Way out west in Cactus county lived a horse named Calico. She wasn't very pretty, but she was smart and could run like greased lightning. When villain Stewy Stinker threatens to hold up Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, will Calico the Wonder Horse be able to save the day?"--