Maybelle the Cable Car

My daughter loved this book! Beautiful illustrations and cute story!

Virginia Lee Burton is my favorite children's book author. Her stories are appealing to both kids and adults and her language use is sophisticated and yet totally approachable to young listeners and new readers alike. The illustrations are always engaging, being full of life, depth and action; With the right mixture of whimsy and realism. Indeed, her stories provide fantastic opportunities to teach my kids about history, mechanical vehicles, and physics, as well as personal traits like honesty, integrity, courage and grit. I also appreciate that her main characters are often vehicles, which my kids love, but are always female, which is uncommon with trains, steam shovels, bulldozers and trolleys. Maybelle is of the same caliber as her other works and I really can't praise or recommend this or her other books enough

If you read the chronicle of the book that comes along with it, you will discover that Virginia Lee Burton basically lived this book, breathed it, researched it heavily before she wrote it. The story is a combination of political activism and an account of the old cable car lines in San Francisco. Like "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel," Ms. Burton's objective is to take children beyond the typical over-simplistic morality tales found in other books, and into the more complex yet delightful world of real life. Like her work in Mike Mulligan and Katy And The Big Snow, Ms. Burton focuses on working class stories where the underdog triumphs through perseverance, guts and intelligence. And she writes so well that even my youngest child adores it. I am so happy that Virginia Lee Burton was in the world, writing her books and sharing her joy, her vision of daily life, work, and everyday happiness.

We bought this because we have many others stories by same author (Little House, Katy, Mike Mulligan) and wanted to add this to our collection. We read to my 3.5 year old. The book and text is much longer than I expected so the story is a bit too long for those with short attention spans but the illustrations and narrative are lovely.

As a grandmother I have found it very important to read classic books to our grandchildren in order to expose them to good literature at every age. This is by one of our favorite authors and it does not fail to produce a good story with captivating illustrations.

I'm so glad that a friend recommended Virginia Lee Burton to us. This book captured the attention of my 7 yr old boy, & it has quickly become a favorite of his. The story of Maybelle teaches children how people have a say in government in a way that a child can understand. The illustrations are perfection: soft, whimsical, darling. We love this book!

Really love Virginia Lee Burton Books. I bought this for a present for my son. I know if any child loves trains, construction or tractors and any other for of transportation this book will be enjoyed. Really can't wait to see what comes next. When I was a kid I had "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel". Then My son received " Katy And The Big Snow". I can't wait to share this book. A Must book to read to any train fan. I would also encourage you to buy the other two books I mentioned above.

Another great read along book the Virginia Lee Burton (Ie The Little House) and historical. My only regret was inability to find an inexpensive hard bound version