The Un-Wedding

The Un-Wedding is written by Babette Cole. This book tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Ogglebutt. The longer Mr. and Mrs. Ogglebutt lived together the more they started to dislike each other. They always fought and didn't agree on anything. They played awful tricks on each other. Their two children, Demetrius and Paula, hated seeing their parents act like this so they posted a sign at school to see if any other children had this problem. Demetrius and Paula discovered that a lot of children have parents who don't get along so they meet to figure out what to do. They decided to see if the minister could un-marry their parents and he thought it was a wonderful idea. Mr. and Mrs. Ogglebutt had an un-wedding performed by the minister. They went on separate un-honeymoons and moved into different houses. The story ends with the two parents living happily ever after apart.

The Un-Wedding is an entertaining book, but I don't think this is a book I would read to children. For children whose parents are going through hard times, this book lets them know they aren't the only ones, and there are a lot of other children whose parents are going through the same thing. The book in a humorous way lets them know that everything will be okay, and parents who aren't happy together and separate can lead more content lives apart. The thing I didn't like about the book was the way Cole portrayed the unhappy parents. Cole makes the parents out to be immature and "ugly" for having disagreements and not getting along. In reality, there are many different reasons and situations for parental disagreements. Cole makes it seem as though parents who are unhappy in their relationship get divorces because they are immature. I don't think it is appropriate to impose this view of their parents on children especially when so many issues can factor into martial problems.