I LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZY CAKES

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)