Finding books about adoption is getting easier, but there are ones that stand above the rest. I am thrilled to wish A Crazy-Much Love happy book birthday as part of their blog tour! I did receive a copy from the publisher for review, but all opinions are strictly my own.
A Crazy-Much Love is a joyful tale of a couple and their adoption of a young girl from another country, presumably China because author Joy Jordan-Lake has an adopted child from China. It is a fabulous story for any adopted child to see that even though how they arrived might have been different, that the love a parent has for them “spills out of windows and busts down the doors.”
Whether or not adoptive parents traveled a few miles or thousands of miles in order to first hold their child, the love that they share is glorious and something to celebrate. What Jordan-Lake and Sonia Sánchez show in this book is that adopted children are loved from the very start, even before parents get to meet their child. Adoptive children get to celebrate the same milestones as biological children and there are so many moments filled with a crazy love that lasts “forever and ever and far beyond that!”
In addition to a beautiful story, Sonia Sánchez brings the pages to life. There are little touches that seem so perfect to me, like they way all three of them touch hands on the cover. It’s a small detail that says a great deal. There is an exuberance in the joy that the family shares and love literally radiates off the characters in dots of color.
A friend of mine recently adopted a 3 year old girl who looks a bit like the little girl in this story. Little does she know that she is about to get my copy as a gift. It is such a perfect gift for a family with adopted children.
Happy Book Birthday, A Crazy-Much Love!
Joy Jordan-Lake is the author of multiple books for adults, including A Tangled Mercy, a Goodreads Hot Reads Selection and Kindle bestseller, and Blue Hole Back Home, winner of the Christy Award in 2009 for Best First Novel. A Crazy-Much Love is her debut picture book. She holds a PhD in English and has taught literature and writing at several universities. She is a mother to two biological children and one child adopted from China, and her experiences inspired this book. She lives outside Nashville with her family, including two fluffy dogs. Learn more about the author at www.joyjordanlake.com.
Sonia Sánchez is an award-winning Spanish illustrator. Her debut picture book, Here I Am, written by Patti Kim, received two starred reviews and was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Painter. Her artwork has been selected for the prestigious Society of Illustrators Original Art Show twice, and her books have been named a CBC NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People and a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year. She lives with her husband, her son, and a sleepyhead cat in a blue house near the Mediterranean Sea.
“The standout illustrations burst with energy and are as saturated with color as the subject of the story is showered with love. A perfect gift for an adoptive family—and every family that has a deep and abiding love for their young children.” —Booklist
“An honest and encouraging story about a transracial adoption.” —Kirkus Reviews
This looks fantastic.