Review by Booklist Review
This reissue of Brannen's 2008 story features virtually identical text, but its sprightly new illustrations offer one big difference: the characters are human this time around (they were guinea pigs in the original). Otherwise the story of a same-sex wedding is the same. Bobby remains little Chloe's favorite uncle, and she is once again distressed when he announces he is marrying his friend Jamie--not because Jamie is a man, but because Chloe wants to keep having fun with Uncle Bobby. Happily, when Jamie joins them in their times together, the fun is only enhanced, and soon Chloe is wishing both men could be her uncle. She is elated, therefore, when Jamie explains that after he and Bobby are married, she will have two uncles. The wedding goes off with only a few humorous glitches, and when it is over, Chloe pronounces it the best wedding ever. And so it is. Not as groundbreaking as its first incarnation, yet this new, more realistic version nevertheless remains a large-hearted affirmation of society's newest kind of wedding.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Brannen's debut stars a strong-willed guinea pig whose favorite uncle announces he is marrying his partner, Jamie. Everyone is thrilled except for Chloe, who tells Uncle Bobby that she doesn't think he should get married, since "You have me! We can keep having fun together, like always." Her uncle promises, "You'll always be my Chloe," and tells her they will continue to have fun together. He and Jamie escort Chloe to the ballet and take her sailing, and she warms to the idea of having two uncles, especially when she is asked to be their flower girl. She proclaims the garden ceremony "the best wedding ever"-and even takes credit for planning it. Though the story makes an easy springboard for adult-child dialogue, the issue of same-sex marriage is incidental to the plot, which straightforwardly addresses the fear of being replaced when a loved one marries. Featuring a sunny palette, Brannen's delicately outlined watercolors convey the characters' varied emotions-the guinea pigs' eyes are particularly expressive-and the mutual affection of the heroine and her uncle. The final scene, which depicts Chloe between her uncles in the light of a full moon, underscores Brannen's reassuring message. Ages 4-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-This is a spare story about Chloe, a young guinea pig who is jealous of her Uncle Bobby's new friend, Jamie; however, that obscures the other main theme, which is that her favorite uncle is going to marry him. Everything happens too abruptly. Readers and Chloe meet him for the first time on the day that Bobby announces, "We're getting married." It seems likely that a special niece would have already met the man her uncle loves enough to wed. Michael Willhoite's Daddy's Wedding (Alyson Wonderland, 1996) introduces same-sex marriage adroitly when a little boy asks one obvious question, "Can men get married to each other?" The boy is reassured with an affirmative response. Chloe neither asks nor gets a direct answer; instead, her mother tells her that people who love each other "want to be married." The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations are sweet and tender. One scene shows Chloe, Uncle Bobby, and Jamie sitting on the floor roasting marshmallows at a fireplace. While the cover shows the two males dressed in formal clothing, the use of animal characters and a name common for both males and females may confuse and delay some children's comprehension. The themes of jealousy and gay relationships are introduced naturally in Pija Lindenbaum's Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle (Farrar, 2007).-Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Chloe the guinea pig is distressed when her favorite uncle, Bobby, announces his engagement to boyfriend Jamie. What if Bobby doesn't want to spend time with her anymore? Eventually, after getting to know Jamie, Chloe is glad to participate in the wedding and welcome him into the family. Warmly affectionate watercolor and graphite illustrations accompany this genial story of same-sex marriage. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Uncle Bobby is getting married--but his niece Chloe doesn't know if that is a good idea. When Uncle Bobby announces at the first picnic of the summer that he and "his friend, Jamie," are getting married, everyone is happy except Chloe. When she expresses her concern to her mother, Mom says she should talk to Uncle Bobby, who reassures Chloe that they will still have plenty of fun together--and then sets out to prove it. Bobby and Jamie take Chloe to the ballet and joke afterward at a soda shop. They go sailing, and Jamie is the first to jump in when Chloe tumbles out of the boat. Roasting marshmallows over a campfire, Chloe happily says, "I wish both of you were my uncles"--and of course they tell her she will get that wish. Flower girl Chloe helps out at the wedding, and they all dance the night away. Brannen reworks the text of her out-of-print and oft-challenged 2008 title to good effect. The tale of a child's uncertainty and jealousy at her uncle's wedding someone who just happens to be another man and the family's carefree celebration of that union remains essentially the same. Soto's bright, friendly cartoons, however, depict a diverse human cast--Uncle Bobby presents white and Jamie presents black--representing a quantum leap forward over the original's anthropomorphic guinea pigs. Chloe has light beige skin; her mother presents white, and her father's skin is a shade darker than Chloe's. A joyous, heartwarming, sweet--and essential--update. (Picture book. 2-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
