The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration: Book one hundred and six

When I was a child I loved looking through old photo albums, and I liked it even more if a grownup was willing to tell me the stories that went with the photos. Now I have a daughter of my own who also enjoys looking at photo albums. She particularly likes the photos of my wedding, and the photos that chronicle the first five or so years of her life. She laughs at the photo of my husband and I driving  in a car that has "JUST MARRIED" written on the back window, and chuckles to see her toddler self sitting in a basket.

Today's book is about a grandmother who shares her wedding album with her two grandchildren. The illustrations are delightful, and the text lovingly chronicles a meeting, a courtship, and a wedding.

Grandma’s Wedding Album

Harriet Ziefert

Illustrated by Karla Gudeon

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Blue Apple Books, 2011, 978-1-60905-058-0

   One day Emily and her brother Michael are at Grandma’s house and they find an old wedding dress and wedding suit in the attic. The children try the clothes on and then they go and show Grandma how they look. Grandma offers to tell the children the story of “how she met Poppy.” She takes out her wedding album, and as she shares the pictures with the children, she tells them the story of how she met Poppy, their courtship, and their wedding.

   Grandma and Poppy met at a picnic in the park, and after dating for a year, Poppy proposed and Grandma accepted him. Poppy and Grandma invited more than one hundred people to their wedding, and Grandma is able to show the children the invitation that they sent, because one of the invitations is inside the wedding album. Grandma goes on to describe the wedding preparations, the wedding itself, and the celebration that followed.

   Children love to look at albums and listen to stories about their parents and grandparents. In this beautifully illustrated picture book, Harriet Ziefert tells the story of one young couple, sharing the special moments in their courtship and their wedding. As they look through the book and read the story, readers will feel as if they too are sitting next to Grandma looking at her wedding album.

   At the back of the book, the author provides her readers with information about wedding traditions from many countries around the world including Korea, France, Italy, and Thailand.