![]() ![]() And I like the ending and the solution to the problem, as well as the way Henry B. I like it for a bedtime story as there's a lot of repetition, which forms a soothing rhythm, but the illustrations are also good as discussion points and a glimpse into a bygone era. He finds one last opportunity for Mary Ann and him to work, and gets the chance to test his boast.This is a charming tale for young children, with some suspense as Mike and Mary Ann race the sun to finish their job, and we see if Mike can get out of the hole he's dug for himself. Mike has always boasted that Mary Ann could dig as much in a day as a hundred men could dig in a week. Unfortunately, steam shovels are being superseded by electric and diesel shovels, so Mike and Mary Ann can't find work. Together they have dug canals, levelled hills for highways and dug basements for skyscrapers across the country. ![]() It was a great present, and we still have all the books, albeit a bit battered.Mike Mulligan has a steam shovel whom he loves, and has named Mary Ann. We were given this book (along with others, none of which I had come across before, but which their kids had grown up with) by friends of ours now based outside Chicago, when I was expecting my eldest. This was tonight's bed-time story chosen by my youngest, who is four years old. ![]()
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