Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel was one of my favorite books growing up, so when I saw this biography about Virginia Lee Burton, I just had to read it! Beautifully illustrated, and a great way to tell the story of a beloved children's book author and illustrator. ( )

What an absolutely lovely biography. I have known the Mike Mulligan steam shovel books and the others all my life, but I never thought about where they came from. Now we all do. This story was wonderful and lovingly illustrated. ( )

This is a great book about Virginia Burton from the view of her children. Burton is an author who wrote children's books and was inspired by what her two sons liked. In this biography, you can see how they view their mother as "magical," because after she draws, things come to life for them. Four of the books she wrote are featured in this book as well and it is an awesome way to show the life of Virginia Burton through the eyes of her children. ( )

James Rocco did a wonderful job with the illustration in the Big Machines book. Before reading this book, I had no knowledge of who Virginia Lee Burton was. After reading this book I realized that her sons had a great inspiration on her life as she drew and enhanced her and her children’s imagination. I admire the sound effects that appear throughout the book. After doing a little research of her life, I’ve learned that she fell in love with dance, music, and later, art. After high school, she won a scholarship to California School of Fine Arts, where she studied art as well as dance. Throughout her everyday life, she drew almost every environmental factor and people she seen. Bruton successful life had everything to do with art. Aris and Mike, her sons, influenced her to write children's books. She's very famous today of her books and creativity. I truly enjoyed reading this book, as stated before the illustration and organization of this book were very impressive. ( )

Delightful! Powerful, magical, and full of life was the magical author/illustrator favorite, Virginia Lee Burton! The reader can learn about Burton's magical ways in this delightful biography written by Sherri Duskey Rinker, and illustrated by John Rocco! This book shows how Virginia Lee's personal life, more specifically, her sons were her inspiration to writing. ( )