Michael Rosen’s Sticky McStickstick: The Friend Who Helped Me Walk Again

Told with honesty and good humor, this moving picture book recounts beloved author Michael Rosen’s recovery from Covid.

One day, three people came to my bedside and said: Today we are going to get you up.

After being admitted to the hospital in 2020 for treatment of Covid, Michael Rosen had to learn to walk again. With the help of the hospital staff, he began the slow steps to recovery-rolling through corridors in a wheelchair, taking tiny steps with a walker, and navigating the parallel bars at the gym. But it was the walking stick he named Sticky McStickstick that helped him take the most important steps of all: back to his home and the love of his family. The former British Children’s Laureate offers a personal and openhearted account, with whimsical illustrations by Tony Ross adding a note of levity as they relay the comedy in Rosen’s reluctance and failed attempts. It’s a story of perseverance and hope told in a way that children can understand, conveying reassurance and the importance of overcoming fear-while learning to accept help.