Webster Professor’s Children’s Book Gives Kids Colorful Road Safety Tips

Professor Emeritus Don Corrigan, of Webster University’s School of Communications, has recently published a children’s book that keeps safety front and center while also tying in nature, pets, and plenty of colorful fun for its young audience.

In the book, titled, “Terry Says: Let’s All Be Safe on the Roadways,” Terry the turkey vulture swoops down to give children smart tips for keeping safe around pedestrian crosswalks, busy city streets and all manner of roadways. Terry’s advice is also applied to children’s pets in the story, who can always use a knowledgeable human hand with safety and – in the book, at least – a child’s hand to color them in.

Corrigan said it was his previous work on another book, “American Roadkill: The Animal Victims of Our Busy Highways,” that inspired the idea for the coloring book.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every five children under the age of 15 who is killed in traffic crashes is a pedestrian,” Corrigan said. “Kids are at risk of crash injuries, even when they are not inside a vehicle, and adults can help protect their young ones with tips about road safety.”

The coloring book was illustrated by local artist Laurie Jackson and produced by Jo Schaper, formerly of the Ozark magazine “River Hills Traveler.” It was Schaper, Corrigan said, who gave him the idea to make the turkey vulture, also known as the “Ozark Eagle” to those familiar with Ozark regional wildlife, the guiding voice for the story.  

“No creature keeps its eye on the road quite like turkey vultures,” Corrigan said. “The coloring book’s message is that motorists must drive defensively, and walkers must walk defensively. When you’re at a marked crosswalk, don’t assume that oncoming drivers will stop.”

Both “American Roadkill” and “Let’s All Be Safe” have received support from animal rights organizations and traffic safety groups including the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation and Safer Streets for Kirkwood and St. Louis County.

Corrigan is the author of several other books relating to nature and the St. Louis area including “Environmental Missouri,” published in 2014 by Reedy Press, and “Amazing Webster Groves,” which was published earlier this year and draws upon the author’s 40 years of work as editor of the Webster-Kirkwood Times.

Corrigan will be available to sign all of his books from 3–5 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 15; and 10 to noon, Tuesday, Dec. 20. The coloring books will be available with each book signed and sold.

Corrigan’s books are also available locally at the Novel Neighbor and Webster Groves Bookshop.

About the Author:

Don Corrigan is an award-winning author who was inducted into the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame in 2020 for his work as a journalism professor and community newspaper editor. At Webster University, he received a Messing Research Award in 1990, the Kemper Outstanding Teacher Award in 1994, and the Presidential Faculty Scholar Award in 1998. Corrigan has reported for his newspaper group from Russia, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and Vietnam. He won a Gannett Foundation Award and the Lewis C. Green Environmental Service Award for his environmental writing.