Karin McLean, a children’s book author and illustrator, is also the owner of Henry, a St. John Ambulance therapy dog. In 2022, she wrote and illustrated the book Henry’s There to Care. It’s about a day in Henry’s life as he visits a hospital to provide friendly canine companionship and comfort to patients and staff.
Karin painted two sets of watercolour paintings for the book, one set in the “portrait” orientation and one set in the “landscape” orientation. She painted the illustrations in both portrait and landscape so that St. John Ambulance could choose which orientation to use. St. John chose the portrait orientation for the published book.
Karin donated four landscape-oriented paintings to the Museum. They show Henry visiting the hospital’s reception desk; Henry visiting Dr. Cadot; Henry meeting the patient Mr. Shapiro, who misses his cat Mozart; and Henry meeting Keshia and her wife Maria on the hospital’s rooftop terrace.
