Zoe's Literacy Project: The Brave Little Steam-Shovel!

Hiya, Friends!  Well, ya know, I love to read, and I've been catchin' up on all the Classics lately. 

I can relate to little Sandy the Steam Shovel!

Today I'd like to talk about a current favorite Classic of mine, and that is The Brave Little Steam Shovel written by Alf Evers and illustrated by Dick Stone.  My book's copyright date is 1951, and it says inside the front cover that it usedta be GRAMMA'S little book!  How about that?!

Well, anyway, on to the story.  You see, Sandy's a little blue baby steam-shovel, and he goes to a garage to live. There's three big, fat trucks at this garage, and a big red steam-shovel named Joe that also live at Sandy's garage.  The other machines kinda pick on poor little Sandy Steamshovel at first, on accounta they're all big, and Sandy's small. 

One day, Sandy gets to go out on a job, digging a cellar for the New School that's bein' built.  Everything goes all hunky-dory for Sandy until he hits a big rock with his bucket.  The big rock is too big and heavy for Sandy to lift up, so he hasta go back to the garage and Joe, the big red steam-shovel, gets to go to the job and get it done.

Sandy has lotsa days were he has to just stay home at the garage, and it makes him a sad little steamshovel.  But it's rained a lot, and there's a landslide across the Main Road.  Thing of it is, Joe the steamshovel is too darned big to get through on the narrow road, so it's time for Sandy's second chance!

It's a lotta hard work for Sandy, but he gets the road cleared.  He even runs up against another big, heavy rock.  He can't pick it up.  But he can push it, and push that rock, he does... right the heck over a CLIFF!  How about that?!  And then it's back to the garage for a hearty round of congratulations for that brave little blue steam shovel!

I love this little book, because I can really relate to Sandy the Steam Shovel.  Sometimes things are too big for me to handle, but every so often, there comes along a job that's just me-sized, and by golly, do I ever shine. 

So that's that for today's Zoe's Literacy Project.  It's good to catch up on the Classics!  I love ya lots, Friends!  I'll be seein' ya tomorrow!  Muah!