cover image Uncle Bobby’s Wedding

Uncle Bobby’s Wedding

Sarah S. Brannen, illus. by Lucia Soto. Little Bee, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4998-1008-0

In this reworking of a 2008 title, now published in partnership with GLAAD, everyone in the family is happy that Uncle Bobby and his “friend” Jamie are getting married, with one exception: Chloe worries that the marriage will make her uncle less present in her life. But Uncle Bobby handles this sense of displacement like a pro: he invites Chloe to go on outings with him and Jamie, and soon Chloe realizes that Jamie is a lot of fun—after a trip to the ballet, “Jamie imitated the ballet dancers and Chloe laughed so hard, she got soda up her nose”—and that two uncles might be better than one. From the announcement picnic to the lively wedding (with Chloe as a yellow-clad flower girl), illustrator Soto’s inclusive cartooned characters are attentive and affectionate in a way that feels genuine. Those we love, she and Brannen show, needn’t change just because they love someone else, too—there’s plenty of room in the human heart. Ages 3–6. (May)