The Big Day

The big day is very big indeed in this celebration of love and marriage. A child receives a surprise invitation to a wedding and sends an acceptance straight away. Young readers can lift the flap on the RSVP and will be intrigued and fascinated by what they see: it asks about travel for example, will that be by magic carpet, unicorn or omnigrobbliwobblibus? When the big day arrives, the child sets off for the wedding, smartly dressed, and joins a colourful congregation to wait for the grooms, two giants in tuxes. After the service, it’s the reception, an equally magical affair with unusual but delicious food, the table laid out in all its glory across gatefold pages, then speeches and dancing. This will be a wonderful introduction and guide to any child about to attend a wedding, but its overall message is love and inclusivity, with the happy couple taking the child aside to explain that love is love, whatever size or shape it comes in. That message is effectively delivered in a book that is full of joy and community. Rachel Plummer is a poet and the rhyming text is very pleasing.

Rachel Plummer talks about the book for Books for Keeps.