My First Literacy

Before I was even born, my mom read many children's books to my brothers when they were young. Then, my sister and I came along and she continued the tradition to read to us; she would read the old books that she kept from my brothers' along with new books that were popular when I was little kid. Most of the books were about adoption or  China because that's where I was born. I assume these books were to help me understand how I ended up here--in America with my family. One of my favorite adoption books is called I Love You Like Crazy Cakes. This book describes the long lengthy process of adoption and, of course, how much the woman loves her newly adopted daughter. My mother told me that so many people gave this book to her when she went to adopt my sister and again when she adopted me that she had to return some of them. I remember as a kid that I loved this book because of the heartfelt story it shared and because of how much it touched me; it was exactly the same experience that my mom had to go through. I think because it's written in the first person narrative and the woman is directly speaking to her daughter, it made me feel like my mom was actually saying these words to me. I don't remember exact memories of reading this book, but I do remember that both my mom and I would cry when we read it together because it seemed so personal, and still is very personal. I had many picture books read to me when growing up and I'm not really sure this was one of my firsts, but I can definitely say that it's one of my favorites!