I Love You Like Crazy Cakes [Hardcover]

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

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

This story of a woman who travels to China to adopt a baby girl, based on the author's own experiences, is a celebration of the love and joy a baby brings into the home. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Mother-love is profound, however a baby comes into a woman's life. For Rose Lewis, the journey to motherhood begins with a letter to Chinese officials, asking if she can adopt from the "big room with lots of other babies." The infants in that room in China are each missing a mother, but Lewis is missing something, too--a baby. She travels to China to meet her new little girl and falls head over heels in love. Taking her baby home to America, Lewis introduces her to all her family and friends, and they begin their life together.

A touching love story, I Love You Like Crazy Cakes will warm the cockles of any new parent's heart, especially those who have recently adopted a child. It's an ideal story for lap-time reading, and will inspire parents and kids to talk about their own first "meetings," whether at birth or in an adoption agency. Jane Dyer, illustrator of the bestselling Time for Bed by Mem Fox, Oh My Baby, Little One by Kathi Appelt, and many other marvelous picture books, uses a pastel palette of watercolors to capture the tender moments between the American mom and her rosy-cheeked Chinese baby. (Ages 3 to 6) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Lewis's sweetly sentimental picture-book debut plays out like a love letter to her adopted Chinese daughter. As she recalls the events leading up to their first meeting ("I had been waiting for you my whole life")Athe letters to foreign officials, the baby picture she received, the flight to China with other excited soon-to-be parentsAand describes their joyous homecoming, she taps into a well of genuine emotion, not surprisingly, since her account is based on her own experience. Like Jamie Lee Curtis's Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, the book offers abundant reassurances of love to adopted children, even if at times it seems more concerned with the feelings of the adult narrator than with those of the child ("How did someone make this perfect match a world away? Did the Chinese people have a special window to my soul?"). Dyer's (When Mama Comes Home Tonight) watercolors are almost meltingly tender. Whether depicting an airplane soaring against a star-spangled night sky, a round-cheeked child enthralled with a room full of toys or an embrace shared by the newly bonded mother and child, the clear, bright colors and clean lines of her portraits are immensely appealing. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316525383
• ISBN-13: 978-0316525381
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 0.5 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Multicultural Stories > Asian & Asian American
  • #32 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Adoption
  • #84 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Family Life > New Baby

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

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loving, joyful adoption story - highly recommended, September 4, 2000

By 

M.E.Kelly (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Love You Like Crazy Cakes (Hardcover)

As the adoptive mom of a six year old adopted from China almost five years ago, I have been looking for a book to share with my daughter that could evoke the feelings we have about her special place in our lives. This comes very close. The story of this adoption journey to China rings true -- it is based on the author's own experience. Lewis' text is loving and joyful --tinged with the longing and sadness that is often part of adoptions. An essential element of this book and one that I especially appreciate is the author's mention of her feelings for her daughter's Chinese mother. We have read and re-read "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes" at our house and it has sparked very necessary and important discussions with our daughter. Dyer's lovely watercolor illustrations are charming --and add to the warm loving tone of the story - it's just wonderful!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written with Exquisite Illustrations, October 31, 2000

By 

Kimberly Rodriguez "Sinophile" (WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Love You Like Crazy Cakes (Hardcover)

"I Love You Like Crazy Cakes" became an instant favorite in our house from the moment we opened it. My 6-year-old daughter, adopted from China, has not expressed a lot of interest in hearing her adoption story-- until we brought home this book. The sweet story and delightful illustrations have made it easier for her to understand her story and we read it together several times a week. It's also a great book to peruse by myself when I want to reflect on the experience of adopting from China. I highly recommend this book!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Addition to Any Family's Library, February 7, 2004

By 

Julie Jordan Scott "Writer, Life Coach - Owne... (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Love You Like Crazy Cakes (Hardcover)

One of my favorite roles as a parent is introducing my children to families of many types. In "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes", my children can understand that sometimes Mommys and Babies become a family by being united via airplanes and adoption officials and guess what? The amazing love is the same.

I especially loved that the author shared the gratitude and love for the "other" mother who provided the gift of this baby into her life. Beautifully stated and at times, overlooked.

The illustrations must be mentioned also: they are stunningly beautiful with the emotions of the subjects literally entering my heart from the page.