Ol' Amos McGee

As a long-time fan of children's literature, I've been collecting the Newbury Award and Caldecott Award books for years. Short as they are, I've not read most of the books in my collection!

So one of my goals for 2012 is to read the Caldecott books. These are the picture books, so the goal is quite do-able, even though I haven't been reading a lot of books lately. (My main reading tends to be blogs these days. Wonder why?)

For Christmas, my librarian daughter, Julie, gave me A Sick Day for Amos McGee written by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by his wife, Erin E. Stead. This is a totally charming book!

It's a simple story of an older gentleman, Amos McGee, who rises early each morning to catch a bus to the zoo where he works. The animals are his friends. Amos spends one-on-one time with his friends doing activities unique to each. He plays chess with the elephant, races with the turtle, sits quietly with the shy penguin, wipes the nose of the highly allergic rhinoceros and reads bedtime stories to the owl (who is afraid of the dark).

One day Amos awakes, not feeling well. He stays home from work. His animal friends are worried about him so go for a visit. Each one cares for Amos in his own way to help Amos feel better.

As with so many Caldecott award winners, the story is sweet and is largely a vehicle for the extraordinary artwork. This book has gentle pencil illustrations, each with a dash of color. The attention to detail is a large part of the charm: the pattern of the quilt, the socks on the penguin's feet, the way the owl wears spectacles... even the polka dots on the rhino's handkerchief.

A wonderful aspect of these books, for me, is that though they are intended for children, adults can appreciate them as a feast for the eyes and a sigh for the soul.