Patrick and the Backhoe

Beautifully illustrated by BC folk hero Bus Griffiths who wrote and illustrated the popular comic book Now You're Logging, Patrick and the Backhoe is a classic story of decency and guts triumphing over arrogance and greed.

Patrick lives in a little town on the side of a high mountain. Patrick's mother and father own the town bookstore, and his brother Simon is a bookworm. Patrick can't concentrate on books. The only book he likes is Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.

Although no great scholar, Patrick does have a talent with levers and knobs and switches. He likes to take things apart and climb up on things. "Once when he was quite small he learned how to make the door of the car work when Dad was driving, and he fell out on his noggin."

Patrick has a special friendship with his Grampa who operates an old backhoe which Patrick loves "because it has more levers and knobs and buttons on it than anything in the world." Occasionally, Patrick is allowed to ride on the backhoe with Grampa.

One day it begins to rain and doesn't stop. "The creek rose higher and surged under the bridge. Then a big boulder came loose and rolled down the hill, plugging the hole under the bridge. The raging waters of Cypress Creek backed up and began to wash away the land on which the town was built." The only thing that can move that boulder is Grampa's backhoe and when Grampa gets stuck under the bridge it's up to Patrick to save the town.