It was an afternoon when elements of Murphy’s Law loomed, not in cataclysmic ways, but merely gnawing tidbits of annoyance–for both me and others–that harkened us back to lessons of a children’s book, The Little Engine That Could. Millions of children first learned of “I-think-I-can” challenges, thanks to this little locomotive. (We who are long of tooth are likely in the “we’re-afraid-we-can’t” stage.)
Arnold Monk, whose pen name was “Watty Piper,” was the author. Maybe his goofy pen name helped the 1930 book to catch on.
It remains popular today……