By Philip C. Stead
A kind old zookeeper looks after his zoo animals every day. When he catches a cold and stays home, the animals catch the bus across town to look after him instead. About as gentle and tender as a get-well book gets.
Amos McGee is an old zookeeper, and every day he makes time for five friends: a game of chess with the elephant, a slow race with the tortoise, quiet company for the shy penguin, a handkerchief for the runny-nosed rhinoceros, and a bedtime story for the owl, who's afraid of the dark. One morning he wakes up with a cold and stays home in bed. The animals wait for him all day, and when he doesn't come, they catch the bus across town to his house and take care of him the way he's always taken care of them. It won the Caldecott Medal, and the pictures are soft pencil and woodblock, the kind of book that slows a whole evening down.
I'd reach for this as a get-well book, and it works because it stays quiet the whole way through. Nothing races, which is what a tired, sick child can actually manage — a story that moves at the pace of a day spent in bed. Underneath it's a simple idea: the one who's always the helper sometimes needs help, and the animals give the care back without making a fuss about it. For a child who's home sick, or one worried about a grandparent who is, it's a comforting thing to have on the nightstand.