The first thing kids notice is the smile.
It's wide, happy, and painted across the front of a 2026 Mustang Mach-E SUV wrapped in bright yellow, with cheerful eyes sitting just above the headlights. The electric SUV is dressed as Eco the Little Electric Taxi, the spunky car character from the Penguin Random House picture book I wrote, illustrated by Patrick Corrigan. For most children's book authors, seeing your character step off the page is just a dream. Mine now has a parking spot!
Eco travels to attractions and events accompanying me at book signings across New England, and families line up to climb inside. The kids don't wait for permission. They reach up, press the driver's-side door button, pull it open, and put two hands on the wheel like they are ready for a road trip.
Their parents are intrigued but hang back and ask practical questions. How does driving an electric vehicle feel different from a gas or diesel car? Why should I make the switch? How quick is it from zero to 60? I answer what I can, then let them sit in the driver's seat; their smiles say it all.
The kids’ questions are sweet and often make me laugh. "Does Eco have a brother or sister like me?" "Does this car have superpowers?"
“Spending my days with Eco is more fun than I can say.”Deb Adamson, author
Spending my days with Eco is more fun than I can say, and I owe it all to my young-adult son.
Zach is a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering at Brown University. His fascination with electric vehicles is what sold me. Not just the technology inside them, though he can talk about that for hours, but the long-term benefits. He's the one who suggested I write a children's book about electric vehicles so kids could catch a glimpse of one way we might work toward sustainability. This matters to most of us. It matters even more, and more urgently, to his generation, so I ran with the idea.
Any creative person will tell you what happens next. When ideas percolate, the universe presents a multitude of related inspiration. Suddenly, all things electric vehicles were in my line of sight and became material to draw upon. One such gift was passing a Mustang Mach-E on the road. I looked at it and saw a face — a friendly, round-eyed little car character who could bring the concept of electric vehicles to kids in an informative yet fun way.
Eco became my entry point.
Eco turned out to be a taxi working in a city with a driver named Charlie, getting people where they needed to go. One morning, after picking up a mom and child who missed the bus, Eco gets stuck in a traffic jam. It appears a family of ducks are blocking the road. Frightened by all the honking, engine noise, and combustion car exhaust, they won’t move. Eco, being silent, smart, and swift, leads mama duck and her ducklings to the safety of a nearby park. The environmental themes ride along quietly underneath the rhyming story, and Patrick's charming illustrations making it a story children ask for on repeat.
What I didn't expect was the enthusiasm from Mustang Mach-E owners who found Eco online. They embraced the idea of their own car becoming an ambassador for the next generation. My feed fills with photos of young children standing in front of the family Mustang Mach-E, holding “Eco: The Little Electric Taxi,” grinning. One mom messaged me, "Eco is such a sweet way to introduce the electric life to the next generation."
Eco made its debut in April at Earth Day events at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, and Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. Kids left with a Mustang Mach-E Hot Wheels car, an Eco coloring page, and a signed book. The yellow wrap is a one-off for these appearances, certainly not something you'll find on a dealer lot, so it always draws a crowd! Summer and fall events are underway, and the momentum keeps building.
I have to admit, with seven new books out in a single year, signings started to feel routine. Then a yellow electric SUV with a big smile and bright eyes began pulling up beside me. Parents get to casually sit in a Mustang Mach-E, and children get a first impression of electric driving that involves buttons, a screen they can draw on, a life-sized Eco and a picture book that conveys important messages they will take with them for a lifetime.
What better way to introduce generations to the future of driving clean, quiet, and smart.
Deb Adamson is a children’s book author.
"Eco: The Little Electric Taxi," written by Deb Adamson and illustrated by Patrick Corrigan, is available now anywhere books are sold. Free classroom and homeschool lesson plans, plus signed book plate requests, are at debadamson.com. Follow Deb on Instagram @DebAdamsonBooks.
