{"id":6217,"date":"2026-01-21T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=6217"},"modified":"2026-01-21T21:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:51:11","slug":"amos_mcgee_20260121","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2026\/01\/21\/amos_mcgee_20260121\/","title":{"rendered":"As always, a joy\u00adful and leisure\u00adly wait and cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion \u2013 Trans\u00adla\u00adtor\u2019s After\u00adword to \u201cAmos\u2019s Snowy Day\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u200b\u200b\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/span><\/p>\n

If I do the math, it\u2019s been a full four\u00adteen years since I first intro\u00adduced the zookeep\u00ader named Amos McGee to Chi\u00adnese chil\u00addren.
\n\u200b<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>\n
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Four\u00adteen years is enough for a tod\u00addler who just fell asleep lis\u00adten\u00ading to \u201cAmos\u2019 Sick Day\u201d to grow into a col\u00adlege stu\u00addent; it is also enough for the young cre\u00adative cou\u00adple, Philip and Erin, who were just start\u00ading out and strug\u00adgling in Brook\u00adlyn, to become par\u00adents who now live in a cen\u00adtu\u00adry-old barn in Michi\u00adgan and raise their own chil\u00addren.<\/p>\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, when I opened this lat\u00adest book, *Amo\u2019s Snowy Day* (A Snow Day for Amos McGee<\/em>When I read this, a won\u00adder\u00adful feel\u00ading welled up in my heart, and I could\u00adn\u2019t help but announce to my fel\u00adlow read\u00aders on Wei\u00adbo: \u201cThis is a new chap\u00adter that fol\u00adlows \u2018Amo\u2019s Sick Day\u2019 and \u2018Amo\u2019s Late Day.\u2019 Unlike the sec\u00adond book, the third book feels clos\u00ader to the orig\u00adi\u00adnal fla\u00advor of the first book.\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n

Yes, the orig\u00adi\u00adnal fla\u00advor, still the one we\u2019ve been long\u00ading for\u2014quiet, slow, and joy\u00adful, plus a touch of antic\u00adi\u00adpa\u00adtion and the sur\u00adprise that comes with wait\u00ading.<\/p>\n

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In the pre\u00advi\u00adous book, *Amo\u2019s Late Day*, Amo, whose life was as pre\u00adcise as clock\u00adwork, was so excit\u00aded about sur\u00adpris\u00ading his friends that he could\u00adn\u2019t sleep, result\u00ading in a minor \u201clate\u201d mishap. That occa\u00adsion\u00adal lapse in judg\u00adment was endear\u00ading, but it always made you wor\u00adry for this old-fash\u00adioned gen\u00adtle\u00adman. This time, how\u00adev\u00ader, Amo is back, with his sig\u00adna\u00adture com\u00adpo\u00adsure.<\/p>\n

The sto\u00adry begins even \u201cslow\u00ader\u201d than the first book. For half the entire book, Amo does one thing\u2014wait.<\/p>\n

Look at how Amo \u201cwaits\u201d\u2014as win\u00adter approach\u00ades, unlike us who stare at our phone screens check\u00ading the weath\u00ader fore\u00adcast, he wraps him\u00adself in his famil\u00adiar warm blan\u00adket and sits by his old-fash\u00adioned radio. The book says, \u201cAmo likes to imag\u00adine the radio as a crack\u00adling fire\u00adplace. Every day, he warms him\u00adself with the var\u00adi\u00adous pos\u00adsi\u00adble good news com\u00ading from the radio.\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n

What a won\u00adder\u00adful phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy of life! In this chaot\u00adic era, we seem to have for\u00adgot\u00adten how to wait grace\u00adful\u00adly. We are always urg\u00ading, always anx\u00adious. But Amo tells us that \u201cwait\u00ading\u201d itself is part of life, even a joy\u00adful part. When the radio says it\u2019s just rain\u00ading or windy, he does\u00adn\u2019t get annoyed, he just pours him\u00adself anoth\u00ader cup of tea. And when he hears it\u2019s going to snow, he does\u00adn\u2019t rush out, but picks up his knit\u00adting sticks instead.<\/p>\n

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Amo still took the No. 5 bus to the zoo, but this time, unlike the first and sec\u00adond times, he was\u00adn\u2019t busy \u201cgoing to work.\u201d Instead, he brought a bag full of good wish\u00ades to \u201cvis\u00adit the set.\u201d<\/p>\n

Please pay close atten\u00adtion to the red gifts in the book. Against the back\u00addrop of Erin E. Stead\u00ad\u2019s sig\u00adna\u00adture wood\u00adcut prints and cool, under\u00adstat\u00aded blue and white win\u00adter hues, the reds woven by Amo\u2014pom-pom hats for ele\u00adphants, thick socks for pen\u00adguins, scarves for rhinos\u2014stand out bril\u00adliant\u00adly. This reminds me of Ezra Jack Keats\u2019 Calde\u00adcott Medal-win\u00adning *Snowy Day*.The Snowy Day<\/em>(And then there\u2019s) Lit\u00adtle Peter, dressed head to toe in a red snow\u00adsuit. This might be Erin\u2019s sub\u00adtle way of pay\u00ading homage to her pre\u00adde\u00adces\u00adsors\u2019 clas\u00adsic works, but it\u2019s also a visu\u00adal rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion of the warmth of friend\u00adship.<\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

In Erin\u2019s writ\u00ading, every move\u00adment of Amo is worth savor\u00ading. In a recent inter\u00adview, she men\u00adtioned that she pays close atten\u00adtion to Amo\u2019s move\u00adments in space, espe\u00adcial\u00adly how his \u201cskin\u00adny body\u201d bends his back and leans towards oth\u00aders. She said that these body lan\u00adguages are telling a secret:\u201c\u201cI\u2019m try\u00ading to empathize with you.\u201c<\/strong>Yes, empa\u00adthy. Philip C. Stead believes it\u2019s the only lan\u00adguage humans and ani\u00admals can tru\u00adly share. And Erin says, \u201cI want to tell read\u00aders: Amo is a per\u00adson who always tries his best and is full of good\u00adwill.\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n

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This explains why, when the snow did\u00adn\u2019t arrive as expect\u00aded, and Amo, though some\u00adwhat dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00aded, still peace\u00adful\u00adly returned home, the ani\u00admals once again did some\u00adthing that warmed our hearts. In \u201cAmo\u2019s Sick Day,\u201d they took a car to care for the sick Amo; in \u201cAmo\u2019s Snowy Day,\u201d they left their com\u00adfort\u00adable den, shov\u00adel\u00ading snow all the way to Amo\u2019s door. It was\u00adn\u2019t because they need\u00aded Amo, but because they knew that Amo need\u00aded them too.<\/p>\n

Behind this return to cre\u00adative work lies a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant shift in the cre\u00adator\u2019s mind\u00adset.<\/p>\n

You might recall that I men\u00adtioned their some\u00adwhat leg\u00adendary cre\u00adative and award-win\u00adning expe\u00adri\u00adences in the first trans\u00adla\u00adtor\u2019s after\u00adword. Their debut nov\u00adel, Erin\u2019s first major work, *Amos\u2019s Sick Day*, won the Calde\u00adcott Medal, but that weighty award brought Erin immense pres\u00adsure. She even had to hide the medal, afraid to look at it too often, lest she feel bur\u00addened (afraid it would become her \u201clast book\u201d).<\/p>\n

So many years have passed, and Erin can now look at her medals with ease. She says the role of Amo brought her a kind of\u2026\u201c\u201cA beau\u00adti\u00adful bur\u00adden\u201d<\/strong>\u2014Because such a kind char\u00adac\u00adter has been cre\u00adat\u00aded, read\u00aders often expect the cre\u00adator to be kind and gen\u00adtle them\u00adselves. What a pre\u00adcious expec\u00adta\u00adtion that is!<\/p>\n

Now that Philip and Erin are par\u00adents them\u00adselves, they have a deep\u00ader under\u00adstand\u00ading of \u201cAmo\u2019s world.\u201d In a recent video con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion, Philip said some\u00adthing that par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly touched me. He said that for adults, \u201cwait\u00ading for snow\u201d might just be a triv\u00adial mat\u00adter in life, even a bit of a has\u00adsle;But for chil\u00addren, this is their whole life.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

So they decid\u00aded to reopen the doors of the Amo fam\u00adi\u00adly home in this noisy, tur\u00adbu\u00adlent, and uncer\u00adtain world. Philip said, \u201cAmo\u2019s sto\u00adry\u2026\u201d\u201c\u201cNot try\u00ading to drown out the noise in the room\u201d\u201d<\/strong>(It does\u00adn\u2019t try to talk above the vol\u00adume of the room); it just stays there qui\u00adet\u00adly, invit\u00ading you to come in.<\/p>\n

This \u201cinvi\u00adta\u00adtion\u201d is vivid\u00adly por\u00adtrayed in the cli\u00admax of the book.<\/p>\n

When the snow final\u00adly fell silent\u00adly dur\u00ading the night (note the breath\u00adtak\u00ading\u00adly beau\u00adti\u00adful snows\u00adcapes on those pages), the next morn\u00ading, all the wait\u00ading was reward\u00aded. A word\u00adless dou\u00adble-page illus\u00adtra\u00adtion appeared in the book: Amo and his friends were speed\u00ading through the snow. Pen\u00adguins glid\u00aded on their bel\u00adlies, tur\u00adtles som\u00ader\u00adsault\u00aded (or were they being used as sleds?), ele\u00adphants clum\u00adsi\u00adly and joy\u00adful\u00adly trudged through the snow\u2026 There were no words here, but you could almost hear their clear laugh\u00adter pierc\u00ading through the pages.<\/p>\n

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At this moment, all the \u201cslow\u00adness\u201d trans\u00adforms into \u201cjoy\u201d.<\/p>\n

When the edi\u00adtor asked me to write a rec\u00adom\u00admen\u00adda\u00adtion for this book, I almost blurt\u00aded out:\u201c\u201cFor some\u00adone whose life is near\u00adly com\u00adplete, every day that brings change (whether \u2018good\u2019 or \u2018bad\u2019) is a hol\u00adi\u00adday.\u201d\u2018<\/strong>This is also a rec\u00adom\u00admen\u00adda\u00adtion for the \u201cAmos Tril\u00ado\u00adgy\u201d as a whole.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t this exact\u00adly what Amo\u2019s life is like? Being sick is a hol\u00adi\u00adday of mutu\u00adal help; being late is a hol\u00adi\u00adday of sur\u00adprise; snow is a hol\u00adi\u00adday of rev\u00adel\u00adry. Even if it does\u00adn\u2019t snow, that qui\u00adet after\u00adnoon of weav\u00ading and embrac\u00ading hope is itself a cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

At the end of the sto\u00adry, the tired friends squeezed into Amo\u2019s small house with yel\u00adlow striped wall\u00adpa\u00adper. Erin once joked that get\u00adting big guys like ele\u00adphants and rhi\u00adnos to squeeze into Amo\u2019s lit\u00adtle house was her favorite chal\u00adlenge, because although it did\u00adn\u2019t make sense phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, it made per\u00adfect sense emo\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly\u2014As long as hearts are togeth\u00ader, even the small\u00adest house can hold the great\u00adest friends.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every\u00adone sat togeth\u00ader drink\u00ading hot choco\u00adlate. Amo said, \u201cI\u2019ll make the hot choco\u00adlate.\u201d Then, the book reads:\u201cBefore any\u00adone could even speak, Amo added an extra marsh\u00admal\u00adlow to each cup.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\u56fe\u7247\"<\/figure>\n

Read\u00ading this, I could\u00adn\u2019t help but smile. This is Amo, this is that qui\u00adet, com\u00adposed, yet always charm\u00ading old man who finds joy in every moment. That extra marsh\u00admal\u00adlow rep\u00adre\u00adsents his over\u00adflow\u00ading love for life and his friends.<\/p>\n

In this per\u00adhaps cold and anx\u00adious win\u00adter, may this book, \u201cAmo\u2019s Snowy Day,\u201d warm your and your child\u2019s hearts like a cup of hot choco\u00adlate with extra marsh\u00admal\u00adlows.<\/p>\n

May we, every day, whether fac\u00ading \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad\u201d changes, turn around and gen\u00adtly say to those around us and to the world:<\/p>\n

hap\u00adpy hol\u00adi\u00addays!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Writ\u00adten by A\u2011Jia on Decem\u00adber 29, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bei\u00adjing, where the first snow had not yet melt\u00aded<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bb\u00bb\u00bb<\/p>\n

A trib\u00adute to the return to a slow, joy\u00adful, and qui\u00adet life \u2013 Trans\u00adla\u00adtor\u2019s after\u00adword to \u201cAmo\u2019s Late Day\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

A peace\u00adful, qui\u00adet, leisure\u00adly, and joy\u00adful life that I yearn for\u2014Translator\u2019s After\u00adword to \u201cAmo\u2019s Sick Day\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n

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\u200b\u200b \u6390\u6307\u4e00\u7b97\uff0c\u8ddd\u79bb\u6211\u7b2c\u4e00\u6b21\u628a\u90a3\u4f4d\u540d\u53eb\u963f\u83ab\u00b7\u9ea6\u5409\uff08Amos McGee\uff09\u7684\u52a8\u7269\u56ed\u7ba1\u7406\u5458\u4ecb\u7ecd\u7ed9\u4e2d\u56fd\u7684\u5c0f\u670b\u53cb\uff0c\u7adf\u7136 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16,12],"tags":[5,6,17],"class_list":["post-6217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-my-translation","category-ajia-review","tag-5","tag-6","tag-17"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/embedded_1769001546311.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6217"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6230,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6217\/revisions\/6230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}