From School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-Rather than present a balanced portrayal of adoption, this book works hard to portray a loving and purely positive view of the emotional pleasures it brings. In profuse terms, a "mommy and daddy-longed for a child to take care of and love." They receive word about her, prepare for a homecoming, and then travel across the world to get her. Slowly, the three get to know one another and when they return home everything is perfect. "`From now on we belong together,' said the daddy. `How lucky that you were the one,' said the mommy.'" Certainly a child who reads this book will feel comforted and secure. More sophisticated, skeptical readers may question the timing of certain events-the birth of Tu Thi on Valentine's Day is overly sentimental. And, if this couple is so excited about bringing their daughter home, why does it take them so long to do so after they are told, "Your little girl has been born!-Come as soon as you can!" (She can sit by the time they get her.) Other readers will question why, as the text states, the baby's birth parents could not care for her. It is a nagging reality that is inadequately addressed. The illustrations reinforce the focus on inclusion. The borders for each illustrative vignette are curved, if not round, while the squat cartoon people have flat and completely round heads. There is a joyful abandonment in the Chagall-influenced art in which outstretched arms or close-knit hugging is the norm.-Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Ages 4-6. In this sentimental look at international adoption, told in folkloric style, a mommy and a daddy who "longed for a child to take care of and love" are united with a little girl born on the other side of the world. The parents are overjoyed when they learn of Tu Thi's birth. Preoccupation with their new daughter becomes foremost as they announce her birth to family and friends, realize that the "child of their hearts" was born on Valentine's Day, think and dream about her as they prepare their home for her. Arriving in an unnamed Asian country to fetch their child, they chronicle their first experiences with their daughter: holding and singing to her, changing her diaper, dancing to music brought from home, telling her about her new country. The intimacy of the story is enhanced by watercolor-and-pencil vignettes that show compact characters with rounded, smiling faces, abstract landscapes, and comfortingly curved shapes, all rendered in shades of blues and oranges.
Amy BrandtCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
