The book, published by Roaring Brook Press, depicts a zookeeper who has bonded with the animals he cares for and who come and visit him one day when he gets sick.

Phillip Stead wrote the book hoping his wife Erin would illustrate it after a period where she had become discouraged with her art.

Amos plays chess with the elephant, who thinks long and hard before each move, races the tortoise and lets him win, sits quietly with the very shy penguin, lends a handkerchief to the runny-nosed rhinoceros, and at dusk reads to the owl, who is scared of the dark.

[5][12] She created her illustrations using woodblock technique and pencils, primarily using muted colors with yellows and red added for contrast.

[5][13] The Horn Book Magazine reviewer Kitty Flynn called the illustrations well drawn to complement the "gentle text".

[4][12] Lisa Von Drasek of Bank Street College of Education praised the book in The New York Times for "delightfully tak[ing] its loony scenario for granted.

[15] Paula Duffy Swan in Library Media Connection gave it a more mixed review, rating it an "additional selection" and summarizing the book as "a sweet, but simple story".

"[17] When Erin received the phone call about the win, she worried her reaction – which was to become shaky and have a need to sit down – was a disappointment to the committee.