Mondays are for Memories

Virginia Lee Burton.  Does that name evoke any memories?  I honestly do not remember reading her books when I was a child.  But I do remember reading them to my children.  "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel", "Katy and the Big Snow", and "The Little House".  She actually wrote a few more than that - though not many.  She was an artist and her work includes more than her children's books.  

She wrote her books for her boys.  If they did not enjoy them or if there was a part where their interest wandered, she would go back and rewrite - or redraw - until it was something they enjoyed.  I found that to be a wonderful insight.  

My personal favorite was "The Little House".  The house really existed!  It was their house and they moved it off of a busy street into a field of daisies.  

Some might think that a book about a steam shovel or a snow plow might not be very interesting nowadays.  But I would encourage you to give Mrs. Burton's books a try.  They have underlying messages of friendship and perseverance that are never outdated.  Try pairing them with some of Kate McMullan's books such as "I Stink" or "I'm Dirty".  And then go out and visit a construction site so you and your children can watch the big machines at work!  I know my boys never tired of watching the street sweeper run through our alley when we lived in California.