Maybelle the Cable Car
by Virginia Lee Burton
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Description
Maybelle loves to carry people up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco, until the City Fathers decide that she should be taken out of service in the name of progress.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Maybelle is another in Virginia Lee Burton's list of anthropomorphic vehicles. As with "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel" the best part of the book is the drawings, for children, of the mechanics of the vehicle. Virginia Lee Burton almost seems like a precursor to David Macaulay with her whimsical yet accurate diagrams.
This lesser-known title by Virginia Lee Burton is a fun story about a cable car in San Francisco. Cable cars are being phased out in favor of buses, which are more efficient and economical, so the issue is to put to a vote by the people of the city. The setting was very present to the story, as was the conflict between history/memory and the future/progress that is based in real events in San Francisco’s history.
Lots of detail for the little ones to pore over, and an excellent lesson in the power of the people for older children. Lively pictures, too. Anyone interested in SF will especially enjoy it, I'm sure. I rounded up from 3.5 stars because I support more environmentally sound forms of transportation, as cable cars are compared to buses....
A lovely read that I recommend.
A lovely read that I recommend.
Maybelle is a cable car from San Francisco who has given a lot of pleasure to her city. When times changed and buses started to take over old cable car routes the people joined together to fight for Maybelle and her services.
This is an adorable book that can be related to students on many levels. It shows the purpose of preservation and fighting for what you believe in.
This is an adorable book that can be related to students on many levels. It shows the purpose of preservation and fighting for what you believe in.
47 months - a fairly wordy book recounting how the San Francisco trolleys were saved. Probably not an everyday read but we enjoyed it from the library.
History and infromation about the cable cars in San Fransisco. Ideas of progress, pollution, and community organizing articulated.
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Author Information
17+ Works 22,465 Members
Virginia Lee Burton was born August 30, 1909 in Massachusetts. She was an author and illusrator of children's books. Her titles include Maybelle the Cable Car, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and Choo Choo: The Story of a Little Engine Who Ran Away. In 1942, she won the Caldecott Medal for her title, The Little House. Burton died on October 15, show more 1968 in Massachusetts. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Maybelle the Cable Car
- Original title
- Maybelle the Cable Car
- Original publication date
- 1952
- Important places
- San Francisco, California, USA; California, USA
- Dedication
- Way out in the far Far West there is a city of many hills . . . a city with water on three sides round . . . a bay city . . . a sea port . . . a gay city . . . a friendly city . . . a city of flowers and cable cars THE CITY O... (show all)F SAN FRANCISCO. To the people of this city who love their cable cars and especially to MRS. HANS KLUSSMAN, leading light in the fight to save them from extinction, I dedicate this book
- First words
- The first of the cable cars was born in San Francisco August 1, 1873 . . . the invention of Andrew S. Hallidie.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Good news . . . ting ting . . . good news she sang
Our day's not done . . . it's just begun. - Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 640
- Popularity
- 45,084
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.90)
- Languages
- Chinese, English, Japanese
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- UPCs
- 3
- ASINs
- 3
