Writing simply, like a love letter from parent to child, Lewis tells the true story of how she wrote to officials in China to find out if she could adopt a baby, and then went to China to bring her home. She takes a long journey there by plane, and falls in love with the tiny girl. “I was so happy that I cried the moment I took you in my arms . . . you cried, too.” She shoots a lot of pictures and kisses her “little hands and tiny feet a hundred times.” They fly home to meet all the relatives, and when the last cousin leaves, settle down to a lullaby and sweet sleep. The text ends with tears for the baby’s Chinese mother, who could not keep her; the last illustration is the Chinese character for love. An exotic but very readable type font adds spice to the gentle narrative. The illustrations are done in light-drenched colors, clear and rosy hues that match the bubbling joy of the text. Patterns in the clouds, in a rose-trimmed teacup, in the baby’s clothing and the mother’s robes, echo that dulcet rhythm. Sure to delight many families whose own children may have come to this country, and to their families, by the same means, this is also a lovely way to introduce others to the concept of foreign-born adoption. Destined to become a classic. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-316-52538-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
A sweet notion that falls flat.
A hit song reimagined as a book about parental love.
Featured in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, Perri’s “A Thousand Years” deals with the speaker’s fear of romantic love. In picture-book form, it explores a parent’s unwavering love for a child, who grows from an infant into a toddler over the course of the narrative. The caregiver expresses awe when the youngster learns to stand and fear that the child might fall while beginning to walk. “I have spent every day waiting for you,” the parent says. “Darling, don’t be afraid.” What the child might fear isn’t clear from the joyful balloon- and rainbow-filled illustrations. The story borders on cloying, and words that might work when sung and accompanied by music don’t sound fresh on the page: “Time goes by. / You grow ever stronger as you fly.” The refrain, however, is a lovely sentiment: “I have loved you for a thousand years. / I’ll love you for a thousand more.” Perri’s legion of fans may flock to this version, illustrated by Ruiz with sparkling stars, bubbles, and big-eyed toddlers, but it doesn’t hold together as a narrative or an ode, as it’s billed, and it’s a long way from the original song. The child is tan-skinned, the parent is lighter-skinned, and other characters are diverse.
A sweet notion that falls flat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622599
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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