ANNOTATION

A woman describes how she went to China to adopt a special baby girl. Based on the author's own experiences.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Based on the author's own experience, this heartfelt story follows a woman on her journey to adopt a baby girl from China. From paperwork to plane flight, the narrative chronicles the baby's trip from a crib in a big room shared with many other babies to her own crib in her own room in her new room. Jane Dyer's delicate watercolors perfectly complement this charming text, a celebration of the love and joy a baby brings into the world."

"Rose Lewis has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. An accomplished still photographer and an award-winning producer for WCVB-TV in Boston, she lives with her daughter in Massachusetts.

Jane Dyer is the illustrator of her own anthology, ANIMAL CRACKERS, TIME FOR BED, by Mem Fox; CHILD OF FAERIE, CHILD OF EARTH, by Jane Yolen; HERE IS MY HEART: LOVE POEMS, selected by William Jay Smith; and BLUE MOON SOUP: A FAMILY COOKBOOK, with recipes by Gary Goss. Jane Dyer lives in Massachusetts."

FROM THE CRITICS

New York Times Book Review - (11/19/00)

...richly illustrated...a lovely context...luminous images...Dyer's full-page illustrations are equally direct and joyful...

Publishers Weekly

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes (2000) by Rose Lewis, illus. by Jane Dyer, comes to board book. PW said, "Lewis's sweetly sentimental picture-book debut plays out like a love letter to her adopted Chinese daughter. Dyer's watercolors are almost meltingly tender."

Publishers Weekly

Lewis's sweetly sentimental picture-book debut plays out like a love letter to her adopted Chinese daughter. As she recalls the events leading up to their first meeting ("I had been waiting for you my whole life")--the letters to foreign officials, the baby picture she received, the flight to China with other excited soon-to-be parents--and describes their joyous homecoming, she taps into a well of genuine emotion, not surprisingly, since her account is based on her own experience. Like Jamie Lee Curtis's Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, the book offers abundant reassurances of love to adopted children, even if at times it seems more concerned with the feelings of the adult narrator than with those of the child ("How did someone make this perfect match a world away? Did the Chinese people have a special window to my soul?"). Dyer's (When Mama Comes Home Tonight) watercolors are almost meltingly tender. Whether depicting an airplane soaring against a star-spangled night sky, a round-cheeked child enthralled with a room full of toys or an embrace shared by the newly bonded mother and child, the clear, bright colors and clean lines of her portraits are immensely appealing. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature - Children's Literture

The cover illustration alone is enough to make you want to open up this book. An adorable baby playing with a black hat with a rose looks right out at you. It will melt your heart, as will the story of the adoption of this Chinese baby. The adoption process is idyllic, not I am afraid quite like the reality of many who have gone this route. The time period is hard to discern, but the happiness expressed in the words of the mother and through Dyer's illustrations is timeless. What is even more remarkable, this story appears to be one of a single parent adoption; a book that has long been needed and one that should be warmly received by that very special audience. It is also Rose Lewis' story and the photograph on the flap shows her with her daughter--floppy black hat and all. 2000, Little Brown, Ages 3 up, $14.95. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot

Parent Council Reviews