sick day
We've had our share of sick days this last week. Luckily it seems to be a pretty fast bug, over and done with in less than 24 hours. But in the meantime we've been cuddled up on the couch reading some of our favorite books, like this one we gave Bee for her birthday, A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip and Erin Stead.
I adore this book. Maybe because I love cute little old men, or because the illustrations are so unique, or because the writer and illustrator are married. It's a beautiful book, with a really sweet and simple story, and I'm not the only one who loves it. This book just won the 2011 Caldecott Medal.. and it's the first book Erin Stead has illustrated! The Caldecott! On her FIRST book! Amazing.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee tells the story of a friendly zookeeper who spends his day taking care of various animals..
He plays chess with the elephant, and runs races with the tortoise.. but one morning he wakes with the sniffles and the chills and can't go into work.
So his friends come to check on him. They wait for the bus and ride over to Amos' home.
And take care of him for a change.
One thing we've just started doing when we give books is to trace our hands on the endpapers. (Our friends the Biggs taught us this little trick.. they traced the hands of their whole family into a book they gave us when they moved from NYC). Here is my hand and Bee's on her fifth birthday... she's gaining on me every day.
You can read about how the Steads heard the news of the Caldecott win over here.. I love this quote from Erin: “We work together all day long, every day. We’re each other’s first pass. It would be really different if we didn’t win this as a team.”
03.2.2011
Reader Comments (23)
Thank you so much for sharing this. The book is stunning. But the article about the awards was incredibly inspirational for me and may have just changed the course of my life! I love moments like that. Thank you again!
Such a sweet story! Plus the end papers-- so adorable.
The hand tracing idea is brilliant! I will have to file idea away.
I am so in love with this book too! We gave it to my daughter for valentine's day, and it's already a household favorite.
Awww, I hope you are all feeling better xx
we LOVE this book, too. our 2 year old can't get enough, either! he even wanted his own handkerchief ;)
My friend Carolyn loves this book too. I almost bought it last time I was at the bookstore and i think I will get it tomorrow as I'm going on. The illustration and story look wonderful
what a lovely book. and neat article about the Caldecott & Newberry Winners! that must be such an amazing moment.
I loved this post so much you inspired me to blog about the books my baby and I are reading these days =)
This is the sweetest post. I have seen the McGee book but never opened it and now I have to ask myself why not???? I go right to Judy Blume on sick days. Fourth Grade Nothing and Sheila the Great go down so easy. During a particularly stubborn bug in January we made it through Superfudge, too.
Such a lovely story! I adore children's books.
I've got to pick that one up. The illustrations are darling!
Anna
hey, i love your blog! i can't wait to read more! :)
Thanks alot :)
:) sharde
love this book too, but more than that, LOVE the hand tracing! going to incorporate that into our library as well!
Love this idea! Even blogging about it tomorrow. Thanks for always being an inspiration.
Big Caldecott fans here! Thank you for sharing the Biggs' tradition of hand tracing.
We are relocating and that is just what I will do for our good friends.
(Thanks for inchmark too)
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I love this idea. I especially love the idea of an adults only ward party. That would be heavenly.
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