Children’s Book Review: A Crazy-Much Love By Joy Jordan-Lake

A CRAZY-MUCH LOVE

By: Joy Jordan-Lake

Illustrated by: Sonia Sanchez

Published: September 17, 2019

Publisher: Two Lions

Fiction

This is author, Joy Jordan-Lake’s first children’s book after writing multiple books for adults. She wrote it after her own experience adopting her child from China. There aren’t enough children’s books that focus on the love of an adoptive family and with the author’s own personal experience, I think she has described the emotions and love so well in this book.

This is the story of two adults hoping and bursting with love for a child they are waiting for. Now that she is older, they can tell her the story of how they hoped for a child and then loved her even before they met her. They share how they painted her room, set up the nursery, and finally were able to travel to meet her and bring her home.

Then you see the story of raising the baby and loving on her and most importantly telling her over and over again how crazy-much she is loved. She quickly turns five and is off to school, but all the time, she is reminded that she is crazy-much loved.

This is just the sweetest book and it made me a little teary reading it. One of my closest friends has adopted three children and thinking of her while I read this story made it even more emotional. The illustrations are colorful and you can almost feel the love on the pages. The above illustration is my absolute favorite from the whole book. You can feel the love on the page as the two are preparing for and already loving their baby. I also love the crazy, exhilarated feeling the illustrator creates as they are packing to go meet their baby.

If you know of a hopeful adoptive family or a family who has recently adopted, this would make for a wonderful gift for them.

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 Ph.D. 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. To see all of her books, click HERE.

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.

To purchase a copy of A CRAZY-MUCH LOVE, click the photo below:

Other books on adoption:

WONDERFUL YOU, AN ADOPTION STORY

MOM AT LAST

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I will be linking up this review on Booking Mama’s regular Saturday feature, Kid Konnection. This is a place for bloggers to share posts related to children’s and YA books. You will find spotlights, reviews, and sometimes even giveaways by clicking HERE, every Saturday.

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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.