I Love You Like Crazy Cakes

Lewis, Rose A.. I Love You Like Crazy Cakes. Little, Brown Young Readers, 2000. Print.
The use of a love letter style story helps ease the harshness of the ideas Lewis tackles in this picture book. By offering the reader a gentle start into a rather sensitive subject, she side-steps the harshness that could potentially come from this touchy topic. This story is written from the perspective of the adoptive parent, and gives a different view than other books. It shows the emotions that come from the parental side, and helps future adoptive parents to get a sense of what they may go through if they choose this route of adoption, however it may give false hope. A child may just think they appeared in the cribs with the nannies to take care of them—this is a very typical thought in adoptees. While the book is sweet and wonderful, it is more of a fairy tale love letter with bits of factual information than one filled with harsh truths that may confuse or scare young children. The idea that an international adoption takes only a letter to the country can be misleading, yet it gives enough information for a child to understand. If this is to be read to a child, beware of the questions that may still ensue because the idea of heir birth is not addressed. Because of the many aspects of adoption that aren’t explained, this book is recommended for younger children who may not be able to wrap their minds around the tough questions yet.