Every Year on Your Birthday [Hardcover]

Rose A. Lewis (Author), Jane Dyer (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

In I Love You Like Crazy Cakes, Rose Lewis and Jane Dyer told the heartfelt story of one woman's adoption a baby girl from China. These sentiments are brought to life again in this touching portrait of birthday celebrations and unforgettable moments between a mother and her little girl: from joyous hugs for a new puppy, to quiet nights gazing at the stars remembering a faraway family. Capturing the richness of both Chinese and American cultures, Every Year on Your Birthday is a poignant tribute to the growing bond of love only a parent and child can know.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1—Another tender offering from the creators of I Love You Like Crazy Cakes (Little, Brown, 2000). Here, a mother relates her thoughts and emotions on her daughter's birthdays, reflecting on the child's birth in China ("I wasn't there, but I was thinking about you as I waited at home to be your new mother"), recalling a first birthday enjoyed with family and friends, describing how her daughter became an American citizen at age two, and so on, to her fifth birthday, which is spent at a riverbank picnic watching a colorful dragon-boat festival. The text alternates between specifics of each celebration and a scrapbook of the mother's thoughts ("…I think about how quickly your gurgles have turned to giggles. It seems like just yesterday when I met you."). Throughout, the mother preserves her daughter's Chinese heritage and includes multicultural layers in her upbringing. Dyer's delightful watercolor illustrations highlight the most touching points of the story. The birthday cakes reflect the themes and add an element of fun to an otherwise poignant book. The pictures match the pace of the text, getting brighter and busier as the years go by and the child becomes more active. The book ends fittingly with the Chinese character for "family," which "is a synonym for 'home.'" A sweet, gorgeously illustrated book that's perfect for family sharing.—June Wolfe, Bushnell-Sage Library, Sheffield, MA
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* The cover, featuring a birthday cake and and an Asian girl wearing a party hat, invites the reader inside. A mother's voice begins, Every year on your birthday, I think about the day you were born. I wasn't there, but I was thinking about you as I waited at home to be your new mother. Mom recalls their special celebrations, and a cake motif records each snapshot moment. On her second birthday the girl becomes an American citizen; on her third, they fly a kite; on her fourth, she's given a puppy; and on her fifth, she and her mother have a picnic and watch the Dragon Boat Festival. Delicately expressive watercolors capture the girl's excitement and happiness. Beautifully designed with framed scenes and boxed sequences of her growth, this loving portrait of a single mother and an adopted child gently accentuates the importance of incorporating the child's culture into her new life. On the last page the Chinese character for family is painted; it is a synonym for home. In the same way that Amy Erlich's Zeek's Silver Moon (1972) broke ground depicting an unconventional family that reflected the times, this topical story, based on the author's personal experience, will be welcomed by families of all kinds adopting an Asian child. Cummins, Julie

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316525529
• ISBN-13: 978-0316525527
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 0.4 x 10.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,047,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hello,
I am the author of the new children's picture book, "Orange Peel's Pocket," (Abrams, 2010)about a little girl named Orange Peel and her exciting journey to find out more about the place where she was born. Orange Peel's adventure begins after her kindergarten teacher puts up a map of China where Orange Peel was born. All eyes turn to Orange Peel and her classmates ask her questions she simply can't answer. Instead of crying, Orange Peel musters up the courage to tell her classmates she doesn't know the answers to their questions but she will find out and let them know. There is a bit of a mystery in this tale. Every time Orange Peel visits someone who tells her a story about China they 'secretly slip something into Orange Peel's Pocket.' It's what Orange Peel finds in her pockets at the end of her journey that gives her the courage to answer her classmates'questions. Orange Peel's Pocket is illustrated by a wonderful new illustrator, Grace Zong. Her illustrations are richly colored, detailed and evoke a wonderful sense of strength and humor. I LOVE how she portrays Orange Peel.
I am also the author of The New York Times bestseller, "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes," and the award winning "Every Year on Your Birthday" both illustrated by Jane Dyer and published by Little, Brown and Company.
All three books were inspired by my daughter who I adopted from China. My first two books are about falling in love with your child. The third, Orange Peel's Pocket, is about finding the courage to say "I don't know" and going out to find the answers.
I received my master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and my undergraduate degree at the University of Rochester.
I am an accomplished still photographer, an award-winning television news producer and now work fulltime as the director of marketing and communications for a Boston-area hospital.
I live in Massachusetts with my daughter and our dog Teddy. You can see both in "Every Year On Your Birthday."
I would love to hear from readers out there, parents and children alike.
Enjoy!
Rose

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great companion to Crazycakes, April 20, 2007

By 

Rebecca Bates "Becca Jean" (Rochester, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Every Year on Your Birthday (Hardcover)

I bought this book for my daughter's 4th birthday. It really captures the experiences and feelings of those first few years following an adoption (from China). The pictures are beautiful and the prose is graceful and moving. Of course I will have to practice until I can read the last page without crying. I'm so glad that Rose Lewis wrote this book. Now I wonder... will there be more? The preteen years? When your daughter goes to college?

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful, Thoughtful Book for Growing Chinese Adoptees, May 23, 2007

By 

Annette (Mantua, NJ, United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Every Year on Your Birthday (Hardcover)

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes came out just as I was completing the paperwork for my daughter's adoption, and Every Year on Your Birthday arrived just in time for my daughter's 4th birthday.

When she opened her present, she held up the book and proclaimed, "It's ME!" I can't overemphasize how important seeing other Asian faces is to my daughter-- and our family goes out of its way to ensure that.

The illustrations are beautiful, the sometimes difficult subject matter of orphanage life is treated sensitively, even positively.

I highly recommend this book for Chinese adoptees-- and even other Asian adoptees-- although the content doesn't *quite* match all experiences, it is an excellent starting off point. For example, we talk about what we did on various birthdays, speculate as to how she celebrated her first birthday before she was adopted, how we celebrated her birthdays and GOTCHA days each year. What a wonderful, easy way to begin sometimes difficult conversations.

An excellent addition to any pro-adoption library!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lewis & Dyer's second gift to the adoption community, July 28, 2007

By 

S. Whitney "sawhitney" (Anchorage, Alaska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Every Year on Your Birthday (Hardcover)

What a joy to open up that Amazon.com box and see the smiling face of Alexandra Mae-Ming Lewis, daughter of Rose Lewis, starring up at me rendered by Jane Dyer in her familiar and much-loved watercolor illustrations. If you and your little ones enjoyed I Love You Like Crazy Cakes (2000), I think you'll want to take a look at Every Year on Your Birthday.

Aimed at children 4-8 years of age, Every Year on Your Birthday is a sweet, simple and lovely book that illustrates, birthday by birthday, how the lives of Rose Lewis and her daughter have proceeded since they first became entwined in a hotel room in China. I think that many who have adopted from China will be able to identify with both the images and the experiences offered up in the book. For example, with my own girls now 4 and 6, I could identify quite completely with lines like "I think about how quickly your gurgles have turned to giggles." And I was equally moved by Jane Dyer's poignant illustrations showing the little one's progression from toddler to little girl; her illustrations could have been watercolor renderings of many of the snapshots awaiting placement in a scrapbook here at our house!

While Jane Dyer's illustrations were probably my favorite part of the book--I love watercolor and will admit to a particular soft spot for her work--I was also very appreciative of the way the book stayed connected to the child's history before her adoption. For instance, one section of the book celebrates the little girl's relationship with her "first friends," her orphanage "sisters" and those who cared for her in the Social Welfare Institute. And, as was the case in Crazy Cakes, the book offers a remembrance of the child's Chinese birth family, using the idea of looking up at the stars as a point of reference for them and a way to send them good wishes.

With Every Year on Your Birthday Rose Lewis and Jane Dyer have given another gift to the adoption community and to those who wish to better understand the experiences of adoptive families. For some, it will be a way to remind a child of the good time spent; for others, it may be used as a springboard for discussions about birth families and a life before adoption. Either way, it is a beautiful, heartfelt addition to the books on adoption from China.