Calico the Wonder Horse

 
Okay, folks, this is a book that has all the makings of an action packed, knock-your-socks-off, read-it-again-and-again, Western for the not-so-faint-at-heart.  To begin with:
Way out West in Cactus County there was a horse named Calico.  She wasn't very pretty . . . but she was very smart.  She was the smartest fastest horse in all of Cactus County.  She could run like greased lightning and she could turn on a quarter and give you back fifteen cents in change.

And, like all bang-'em-up Westerns, there's a standoff between the good guys (Calico and Hank) and the bad guys:
Stewy Stinker - was said to be so mean he would hold up Santa Claus on Christmas Eve
Butch Bones - boasted that he was so tough he would bite a live grizzly bear's nose
Snake Eye Pyezon - was so crooked , that if he swallowed nails he'd spit out corkscrews
Buzzard Bates - was so bad even a buzzard wouldn't use him for bait

This book has it all: a round-up, "Badlands . . . good only for hideouts for Bad Men," a stagecoach driven by none other than Diehard Dan, a cattle rustling, a kidnapping, a stampede, a holdup, and a chase.

So run, don't walk, to your local library and check out Calico the Wonder Horse or The Saga of Stewy Stinker by Virginia Lee Burton before they're all hustled off the shelves.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (c. 1939) by Virginia Lee Burton remains a must read for every child.  And you mothers who have requested titles to give your sons -- wrap this one up for his next birthday!  Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is a book that little boys hang on to until they become big boys, and the big boys read it to their offspring, feasting on the memories it evokes.  If you don't believe me, ask your husband, dad, brothers, uncles, brother-in-laws, etc.  It's a timeless "keeper" that you'll be returning to again and again.  And so our story begins:

Mike Mulligan had a steam shovel,
    a beautiful red steam shovel.
       Her name was Mary Anne.
          Mike Mulligan was very proud of Mary Anne.
              He always said that she could dig as much in a day
                 as a hundred men could dig in a week,
                   but he had never been quite sure 
                      that this was true.

Introduce your children to Mike Mulligan, Mary Anne, the townspeople of Popperville, that winning, ingenious "little boy" of Popperville, and keep this book for generations to come!

More books by Virginia Lee Burton (click on image to read recommendation):

The Little House

After the folks in your home thoroughly enjoy Katy, re-read Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House.  If there's one book that I never tire of reading and looking at the illustrations, it's one of the all-time best-loved children's books The Little House, 1942 winner of the Caldecott Medal.  It's also a story that resonates with the oldest of us.  Just glancing at the cover can bring sunshine into the rainiest of days.  The mere cadence of the story bewitches any listening audience, so imagine adding captivating storyline and illustrations. Here's how it all begins:

Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country.  She was a pretty Little House and she was strong and well built.  The man who built her so well said, "This Little House shall never be sold for gold or silver and she will live to see our great-great-granchildren's great-great-granchildren living in her."

While telling the little house's dramatic life story, Burton calls us to appreciate the rising and setting of the sun, the altering phases of the moon, the changing of the seasons, and those areas that allows us to view these things in their fullness.  By the time you reach then end of Burton's well woven story, you'll feel all warm inside like you just nursed a mug of hot cocoa, complete with marshmallows on top.  Even the end pages boast the extraordinary, setting up the storyline at the very first page turn.

The Little House remains one of those jewel of a books to be sure to introduce to your children.  I would love to hear your particular memories of reading Virginia Lee Burton's beloved story.

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.