Don't Sneeze at the Wedding

By: Pamela Mayer
Ilustrated by: Martha Avil
Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing
Publication Date: August 2013
ISBN: 978-1467704298
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: November 2013

Anna opened her mouth wide as Mommy felt her forehead and Daddy looked into her throat. "Ah-choo!" It looked like Anna was getting a cold, but it was not a good time to get one. Not a good time at all. Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matt were getting married and she was going to be the flower girl. It would never do if Anna sneezed through the wedding. "If you feel a sneeze coming, press your upper lip with your finger like this," Daddy instructed. Anna's flower girl dress was so very pretty and she was very excited to wear it.

"Ah-choo!" There Anna went again, but this time she sneezed on Grandma in front of the temple. No, it was not a good time to get a cold. Grandma told her that wiggling her earlobe was just the thing to do. "Press lip, wiggle, earlobe, don't sneeze." Anna sneezed on Monsieur Phillippe, the make-up artist, Betty, the florist, Glenn the photographer, and even the Rabbi. Anna worked on all the "stop sneezing suggestions" because everyone told her not to sneeze during the wedding. Everything was going fine until it was time to break the glass. Ahhhhhh ... was Anna going to ruin the wedding?

This is a delightfully charming story Anna and her big ah-choo young children will love. Everyone will smile at Anna as she tries out all the suggestions for keeping that big sneeze in check. Try as she might that ah-choo keeps coming to the surface. Everyone tells her not to "sneeze at the wedding" because they don't want her to ruin Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matt's day. The humorous twist at the end will make everyone, young and old alike, chuckle at the solution to Anna's ah-choo dilemma. The artwork is wonderfully whimsical and bright. In the back of the book is a brief section "About Jewish Weddings."

Quill says: This is a humorous tale of an almost-disastrous wedding that young children will love!