Local bike and streets advocate Laura Mitchell pointed out on Twitter a few days ago that the children's book Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman "promotes active transportation." She wrote,
I’ve read this book dozens of times, but hadn’t noticed the comparison between these pages until my 5yo pointed it out to me last night.
Road rage, repairs, pollution — driving cars is stressful for dogs too!
She included these two images, in which her kid had noted the contrast:
I loved this book as a child, and still have my family's copy.
Laura's 5-year-old is right. Just about every dog shown in a car looks stressed out — hunched over the steering wheel, wearing a doggish frown. While most of the dogs walking, biking, skating, scootering, swimming, or otherwise engaged look happy.
And at the end, where are all of the dogs trying to go?
To a dog party! A big dog party!
And they all look much happier once they aren't driving.
I loved that big dog party, arrayed as they are on top of a spreading tree top.
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Today I learned that in addition to his many books, P.D. Eastman was a writer and storyboard artist on the Mr. Magoo series, and that he co-wrote the screenplay for Gerald McBoing-Boing.
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