Uncle Bobby's Wedding [Hardcover]

Sarah S. Brannen (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: March 27, 2008 | Age Range: 4 and up | Lexile Measure: 530L (What's this?)

Bobby and Jamie are getting married, but Bobby?s niece Chloe is worried that she won?t be his favorite person anymore. Will Uncle Bobby still think she is special?

Sarah Brannen?s warm story is set in an alternative family as Uncle Bobby marries his boyfriend. Uncle Bobby?s Wedding embraces Bobby?s relationship with Jamie, but keeps its focus where it truly belongs: on an uncle and niece?s love for each other.

Beautifully told and charmingly illustrated, this simple yet moving story begs to be read time and again.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When her favorite uncle, Bobby, announces that he is getting married to his boyfriend, Jamie, Chloe worries that he won’t have time for her anymore. The characters are all guinea pigs in human dress, and the sweet, double-page spreads in watercolor and graphite show the idyllic bond between the child and her uncle, as they walk together in the woods, row on the river, and more. In contrast are the scenes of her sadness and jealousy until she learns to have fun with both Bobby and Jamie together—even as they talk about their plans to raise their own kids. The climax is the joyful, exciting wedding—the couple in tuxedos, Chloe as the flower girl, and the big, extended family all together, smiling and teary. A celebration of same-sex marriage, this is about family happiness. Pair with Justin Richardson’s And Tango Makes Three (2005). Preschool-Grade 2. --Hazel Rochman

Review

"...story and pictures are gentle and serene rather than controversial." -- Jane Langton, Newbery Honor-winning author of The Fledgling

"I love it. It's a beautiful book that needs no explaining." -- Jacqueline Woodson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Show Way

"This is SUCH a lovely, charming book. It's about time." -- Tomie de Paola, Newbery Honor-winning author of 26 Fairmont Avenue

"Valiant, valid, validating, valuable." -- Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked

"...Sarah Brannen's beautiful and moving tale has arrived just in time for the young, twenty-first century reader." -- Robert Sabuda, bestselling pop-up artist

The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations are sweet and tender. -- School Library Journal

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (March 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399247122
• ISBN-13: 978-0399247125
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 0.4 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #545,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sarah S. Brannen wrote and illustrated Uncle Bobby's Wedding, and illustrated The Pig Scramble, Mathias Franey, Powder Monkey, Digging for Troy, and The ABC Book of American Homes. Forthcoming books include The Ugly Ducking (Sterling Publishers), At Home in Her Tomb (Charlesbridge Publishing), The Very Beary Tooth Fairy"by Arthur A. Levine (Scholastic Press), Feathers (Charlesbridge Publishing, and The PIed Piper of Hamelin (Sterling).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A charming and inclusive book that doesn't preach May 7, 2008

By Dana Rudolph

Format:Hardcover

Uncle Bobby's Wedding is more than just a good LGBT-inclusive children's book; it is a good children's book, period. It tells the sweet story of Chloe, an anthropomorphic young guinea pig who worries that Uncle Bobby won't keep having fun with her after he marries his boyfriend Jamie. Uncle Bobby explains that their special times together will not end; Chloe will not be losing an uncle, but gaining one. The book ends at the wedding, with Chloe as the enthusiastic flower girl.

Written from Chloe's perspective, Uncle Bobby deftly expresses a young child's concerns about family relationships and change. It stresses the power of love to encompass both old and new. Brannen's rich watercolor drawings match the tranquil but sometimes playful tone of the text.

The book's great strength is that Jamie's gender is a non-issue throughout. Unlike many older LGBT-themed children's books, such as Heather Has Two Mommies, it doesn't focus on a child struggling against negative views of her family. That approach has value for some, but Uncle Bobby indicates it is now possible to present a same-sex relationship without the need to defend it or compare it, however favorably, with a heterosexual norm. (Even the excellent And Tango Makes Three contrasts the same-sex penguin pair with the usual opposite-sex couples.) This leaves Brannen free to concentrate on her other themes, and opens up the book to a wider audience.

The book will likely be criticized by some for "promoting" same-sex marriage, but in reality it is as sweet and inoffensive a children's book as one could ever hope to find. It shows two men (well, male guinea pigs) getting married, but never preaches. Highly recommended.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Guinea Pigs? October 18, 2008

By Suzanne Bennett

Format:Hardcover

I'm more alarmed that it's about guinea pigs running loose in the woods and gallivanting about at night. An owl could get them! Very un-guinea-pig-like behavior! As far as the same-sex thing goes, yeah, guinea pigs do that!

It's a nice book that gives kids a chance to discuss same-sex relationships at home before they go to school and encounter classmates who have a different assortment of parents than they do. Whether one is for or against same-sex relationships, they are a fact of life. Kids will be more comfortable knowing they exist rather than being surprised by their new friends' two moms or dads. And of course, the child who has two moms or dads will be happy to find a book that relates to his or her life.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story and illustrations! April 16, 2008

By planetsong

Format:Hardcover

This is a book to wonder at, in all the best ways. The story is straightforward, about a little girl guinea pig (Chloe) and her worries that she will lose her Uncle Bobby's affection when he gets married. Uncle Bobby reassures her that she need not worry about this, and when Chloe meets Uncle Bobby's partner, Jamie, she realizes that she's not losing an uncle, she's gaining one! One of the rapturous things about this story is the way the marriage is presented, as the loving event that it is, such a natural thing (for Uncle Bobby) that the fact that it is between guinea pigs of the same sex doesn't even need a discussion.

The illustrations are a delight. Sarah Brannen is an accomplished artist, and I pored over the pictures, noticing the subtle ways that young guinea pigs are drawn differently from the more sedate adult guinea pigs. You really enter Chloe's world and see the wonder of things from her perspective. This is a book to treasure!