Heh, I came into these comments to mention that very book, because this article reminded me of the exact same thing. I bought a (used) copy a few years back fo

Heh, I came into these comments to mention that very book, because this article reminded me of the exact same thing. I bought a (used) copy a few years back for my kids because I like the illustrator. It's "As Right as Right Can Be", by Anne Rose, illustrated by Arnold Lobel. My guess is that it was inspired by Diderot's essay? ... hmmm, turns out it was published in the 70s, so not based on the paper describing the effect.