Here Come the Brides

Children's Literature - Kristin Harris

The wedding celebration is an event that starts marriages all over the world. It is the bride who is the center of this wonderful occasion. Realistic, painted illustrations portray brides and wedding customs from all over the world and through time. We may be accustomed to white wedding gowns, but this is certainly not the universal color for brides. Even hairstyles and facial makeup have various global traditions. Although the typical American wedding is featured, many other traditions are included. In this day and age in which marriage means a very different thing that it did a generation ago, this book will still attract the attention of many girls.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-6Costumes and customs relating to weddings around the world and across time are presented in this lavishly illustrated easy-to-read introduction. Carefully detailed pastel drawings invite examination and comparison. They show an assortment of wedding trivia from times and places as diverse as medieval Japan, 18th-century Italy, and present-day Indonesia, and cultures as unfamiliar as those of the Masai, medieval Oriental Jewry, and 19th-century Quakers and Hopis. Traditions familiar to American television watchers and readers of spring newspaper bridal sections are also included. The information has been organized into sections covering engagement tokens, wedding dresses, hair and makeup, family and friends, symbols and traditions, and oddities. Further tidbits about traditional foods appear in "Did You Know" inserts.Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC

Kirkus Reviews

It is hard not to get fussy and a bit sentimental when talking about wedding mores and customs, as is the case here. Jackson (The Book of Slime, 1997, etc.) is full of wonderful bits of wedding lore, from many different times and cultures, illustrated in exquisite detail by Heyer's richly colored portraits. She explains that white wasn't a traditional color for wedding dresses in the west until the 19th century (leaving out that it was because Queen Victoria wore white to her own wedding): Today, Norwegian brides may don green, and Arab brides red. Sharing food between bride and groom is nearly universal: Japanese couples eat from the same plate of rice, while other newlyweds bite into the same piece of candy. Rings, veils, attendants, and flowers are discussed, and the groom makes a mere cameo appearance. Gary Soto's Snapshots From the Wedding (1997) is more fun, but this will fit the bill for those looking for a drier, fact-based approach. (bibliography) (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-9)