A Sick Day for Amos McGee

A Sick Day for Amos McGee is a sleeper. It’s about the routine of life for Amos the zookeeper and his friends—the elephant, the turtle, the penguin, the owl and the rhinoceros. On the clock, Amos goes about befitting exchanges with each animal like reading to the owl and racing the turtle—until the day he gets a cold. Troubled and out of sync by his absence, his pals pile in the bus and get to his bedside to resume their individual routines. This is a sweet story about the rhythm of friendship and the comfort that comes with it.

I am struck by the perfect match of illustration style to the story, (not always the case). The illustrations by Erin Stead fit snuggly with her husband Philip’s carefully chosen words. Her subtle but firm graphite drawings take you into the wise crevices of Amos’ aged face as well as the caring eyes of each of his friends. Her confident drawings are judiciously punctuated with flat pastel color applied through woodblock printing. This book is all care and loving hands, cover to cover. What a joy it must have been for Erin and Philip to create. Just wonderful.