A CRAZY-MUCH LOVE

A child learns how she was adopted and how much she is loved in this story told from the point of view of her adoptive parents.

From the beginning of the story, readers see how much the parents already love their child, who is not even in their arms. From anxiously deciding on the right color to paint the child’s room and filling it with stuffed bears to “count[ing] the hours” until they can get on a plane and fly across oceans to meet her, these adoptive parents make it clear how they feel about their child. Once home, the child discovers her first bath, her first word, and her first day of school, all with “crazy-much love” from her parents. The baby changes as she grows, but nothing about that love does. Boldfaced type and capitalized words throughout the book emphasize the emotions of joy and love. Sánchez uses energetic lines and bold splashes of color to effectively mirror how the parents feel about their child. Multicolored circles filling the pages like so much buoyant confetti visually symbolizes the love between parents and child. This baby’s father is white, the mother has olive skin and black hair, and the child is Asian; the illustrations feature a supporting cast of extended family, friends, and neighbors of a wide variety of races and ethnicities.

An honest and encouraging story about a transracial adoption.