There’s a rational explaination behind the rather confounding illustration to the left. The horse sprawled upon the ground has died. From an overdose of pills and weed. You see, Father horse had a friend who secretly took drugs (and was somehow able to open childproof pill bottles with his hooves), and this friend accidentally overdosed. Now do you see why drugs are bad?
Let’s start from the begining. Sylvia Scott Gibson wrote a book called “Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say ‘No’ to Drugs,” published at some point in 1991. Why it took so long to reach the egalitarian distribution mechanism that is the internet is beyond me. Gibson’s opus is solid gold.
Gibson, probably inspired by God, took a long, hard look at the country as it eased its way into the 1990’s and said to herself “Sylvia, the children of today are in danger of being seduced by drugs and alcohol. You’ve got to write a book with horses telling them drugs are a no no.”
Somewhere in the creative process, Gibson decided a regular horse wouldn’t be compelling enough for young readers raised on MTV and Andrew Dice Clay. The protagonist had to be a naughty horse with an exotic name.
Entire landfills worth of anti-drug literature have been written, but “Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say ‘No’ to Drugs” is a breed apart. It’s a trifecta of insane: a rabid anti-drug stance, an off-putting concept executed complete with black and white drawings of drug abusing horses, and really terrible prose. For example, Gibson chooses to close her tract thusly:
“I will never, ever use any drugs again,” said Latawnya. “Mother and Father, if anyone ever offers me drugs, I know how to say ‘No way.’ I learned personally that drugs are a no no,” said Latawnya the naughty horse. Latawnya’s mother and father smiled with delight. They were happy about their little Latawnya learning to say “no way” to drugs. So Mother horse, Sylvia, and Father horse, James, gave Latawnya a big kiss and a big hug for learning to say “No way” to drugs.
Hey! The Mother horse has the same first name as the author!
Though unintentional, the book reinforces a “Don’t have 8 children and write a children’s book about drug-abusing equine” message more than a “Don’t do drugs” message. A second, less obvious message: never read Edward Bulwer-Lytton before dreaming up a title for your book. It’s a shame Sylvia Scott Gibson hasn’t been published more.
