Every night, I read at least two bedtime stories–Jack and Peter each get to select one, and if they’ve cooperated with the nighttime rituals (baths, teethbrushing, jammies, etc.), they get a bonus third story. This is my favorite part of the day, not just because it means that in about half an hour the boys will be asleep but because often they select very good reading material. We’ve got a well-stocked shelf that includes many of the classics and some new books as well. My father had a gig at a printer for a while, and he gave us several boxes of misbound titles; I’ve still got a few of my own favorites from childhood; and every now and again I like to splurge at the Wild Rumpus.

Pre-schoolers being what they are, we usually get into a rut: a favorite story can get top billing for a month at a time, and they never tire of it. In fact, the more familiar the better–Peter especially likes to recite the books along with me in a hushed voice. And sometimes their choices aren’t so great; if I have to read Peef one more time…

But occasionally a book ends up on the re-run channel that deserves a nod, so “Story Time Hits” will be a place to highlight these. And right now, Virginia Lee Burton’s “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” is a box-office smash.

When people used to stop and watch them, Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne used to dig a little faster and a little better.

You probably know this story; it was published in 1939, and has remained a perrenial favorite since then. It’s the story of Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne, his beloved steam shovel; at one time, Mike and Mary Anne helped to dig canals and train tunnels and skyscraper basements, but now the new diesel and electric shovels are squeezing them out. Mike reads that a small town is building a new town hall, and he presents himself and Mary Anne as the perfect team to dig the basement–and if they can’t do it in a day, Mike says, “you won’t have to pay.”

Burton’s illustrations are wonderful, of course–subdued colors and impressionistic figures, in a style that’s readily recognized by anyone who’s read her many books. They remind me a little of Robert McCloskey’s drawings–no surprise, since they were both writers with New England ties working at about the same time. There’s something a little more playful about Burton’s drawings, though, which are clearly not intended to be realistic renderings but are just bright and busy enough to augment the story.

And the story–about an obsolete machine that does good–is appealing. When I read it, I think of my beloved Brownie Hawkeye and Argus cameras, or our old house with its charm and its flaws, and I’m glad that Mike Mulligan took such good care of Mary Anne that she never grew old.