mr. & mrs. ogglebutt

All right. I didn't particularly care for this book. And not because of the subject. I thought the 'un-wedding' was a really good idea. I just didn't like the book. It was obviously intended to be funny but I only found 3 parts amusing. Most of the time I felt like Babette Cole was trying too hard. The illustrations (especially of the house in the beginning that explained why the parents fought) were a little overdone. Its only redeeming qualities were its few simply stated points. For instance, when the children hold their meeting to determine if their parents' fighting is their fault, they all decide that it's not their fault their parents act like "five-year-olds". I know that doesn't sound funny now but at that point in the book, it was welcome comic relief. The second part that was somewhat amusing was all of the un-wedding guests saying things like "thank goodness" and "it's about time" as the Ogglebutts unpronounced themselves man and wife. I thought that was interesting because the children's books I've read about divorce up until now have only dealt with the nuclear unit and not the friends and extended family who also have to watch these people fight and make each other unhappy all the time. The third part I thought was funny was that while their parents were off on their separate honeymoons, the kids took it upon themselves to order two of everything for the separate houses they built for their parents...right next to one another (what?). Ok wait--I guess I lied. I found a fourth thing a little funny...the names. Ogglebutt. I did giggle. But that's it. Really. I think The Un-Wedding would have been better if it had been posed more as a fantasy for two children whose parents fought all the time instead of trying to be real. But I do tip my hat to Cole's originality.