Illustrator: Sarah S. Brannen
Grade Level Equivalent: N/A
Lexile Measure: AD530L
Genre: Children's Literature
Subgenre: Fantasy/Literature for a Diverse Society
Theme: Love is love.
Primary and Secondary Characters: Chloe, Uncle Bobby, Uncle Jamie
Awards: N/A
Date of Publication: 2008
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 0399247122
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding is a great children’s book that addresses a very controversial topic: gay marriage. Rather than use people, Sarah Brannen used guinea pigs. I think this was very smart because it takes some of the shock out of the topic for kids. Chloe’s favorite uncle Bobby is getting married to Jamie. At first, Chloe doesn’t understand why her Uncle Bobby needs to get married. She refers to him as her “special uncle”. Chloe’s mother explains to her that Bobby and Jamie love each other and when grown-ups love each other that much, they get married. Bobby explains it to Chloe by saying that he and Jamie love each other and they are ready to share their lives together and start a family of their own. In order to ease Chloe into this new event in their lives, Bobby and Jamie spend the day with Chloe doing fun things, like going to the ballet, out to dinner, sailing, and roasting marshmallows—just the three of them. In the end, Chloe is excited to get a new uncle.
I think this book—and others like it—should be incorporated into classrooms. I understand that it is an exceptionally touchy subject but if teachers are going to help combat the growing problem of intolerance in classrooms then it needs to start at a very young age. It is so important that teachers use their inner-discipline and do not allow their own feelings and beliefs on the subject to interfere with the way they teach their students to treat others. Gay/lesbian students will cross a teacher’s path at some point during their career and it is crucial that teachers do not judge and do not allow their other students to judge either. This book eases children into the subject of gay marriage and alternative families by using animals rather than people. I think this effectively introduces the topic to young children without being too real and shocking for them. Teachers can use this book to simply show that it doesn’t matter who is in your family or what role they play in that family, love is love and as long as everyone in the family loves and accepts one another, it doesn’t matter how others perceive you. This topic can be addressed in classrooms without pushing beliefs on students or being too graphic. If it is okay to talk about traditional marriage or even step-parents and other types of alternative families, then this should certainly be included as well.
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