Katy and the Big Snow

If you haven't read Katy and the Big Snow (c. 1943), drop what you're doing, run out to your local library, and check this book out before the kids come home from school!  They'll be turning cartwheels!  Mine absolutely loved it.  We've read it several times, several days in a row, since the time we checked ours out.  I guess it goes without saying, both illustrations and story line prove fascinating.  I guarantee any of your young budding artists or map lovers will pour over it's pages.  Virginia Lee Burton's story opens:

                      Katy was a beautiful red crawler tractor.  
                      She was very big and very strong
                      and she could do a lot of things.

Aren't you just itching to see how it continues?!  Discover how heroic Katy saves the day, and bask in that lovely worded very last line by re-reading it several times over.

I'll feature some more Burton titles in later posts.  Essentially, you'll find that you can't go wrong with books illustrated and written by Virginia Lee Burton.  She has a clever way of juxtaposing progress against nostalgia.  She's not afraid to depict modern, industrial city scenes, while celebrating the values of hard work, friendship, and a simpler time.