The Ring Bearer by Floyd Cooper (review)

Jackson is charged with being the ring bearer in his mother’s wedding to Bill, while Bill’s daughter, Sophie, will be the flower girl. Jackson’s game despite his nerves (“I don’t want to trip in front of everyone and mess it all up”), but when it’s Sophie who trips over a step as she goes up the aisle, guess who saves the day to the cheers of the whole wedding party? The present-tense text is simple and straightforward, allowing for maximum accessibility to young ring bearers and their ilk, but it’s clever at quietly connecting Jackson’s unease about his moment in the limelight with his uncertainty about his role in the new blended family. The book gets plenty of drama out of that uncertainty while surrounding it with love and reason, making it clear that Bill is a nice guy (he happily perches his stepson-to-be on his own shoulders while waiting for the start of the festivities), and the newly blended African-American family is affectionate all around. Though there’s the occasional awkward pose in the art, Cooper’s familiar soft, dusty pastels offer some truly lovely portraiture, and elements of wedding dress and décor are given full but not fussy due (the bride’s veil and Sophie’s sheer overskirt offer particularly pleasing effects). Kids preparing for weddings will appreciate the reassurance, and this may make them heave a sigh of relief if they’ve been spared ring-bearer duties.