Here Comes Our Bride!: An African Wedding Story

Author: Ifeoma Onyefulu
Paperback: 32 page(s)
Age Range: 4 - 8

Book Description:

Ekinadose wants his Uncle Osaere to get married so he can go to a wedding. When visitors come to see his grandfather and leave with a list, Ekinadose is puzzled. But the mystery is solved when the visitors return with palm wine, alligator pepper, yams, and money - and Ekinadose gets to attend two weddings!
The colorful sights and sounds of a Nigerian wedding and the ensuing community preparations come to life in Ifeoma Onyefulu's new photographic picture book. Seen through the eyes of young Ekinadose and told in sensitive, simple first-person text, the traditional West African wedding ceremony and the religious ceremony that always follows show the beauty and richness of a time-honored culture.

Booklist
Far from the reverential, there is a lively mix of the traditional and the contemporary in this photo-essay about a wedding in Benin, Nigeria. Osaere is a doctor; Efosa is an architect. As Onyefulu points out in her introduction, the wedding is a family affair, and the close-up, full-color photos show the formal visits, when the relatives bring all kinds of gifts, including jewelry and foods (kola nuts stand for peace and harmony; schnapps is for the ancestors). After the formality, there is lots of teasing to cement the friendship. Then an old man talks to the ancestors, and Osaere and Efosa are married in traditional robes. Much later, there's a church wedding (he's in a tux; she wears a wedding gown), with even more guests, foods, and gifts. A young boy narrates the story, and kids will enjoy learning about the Nigerian ritual while they recognize the universal excitement of wedding pageantry and bonding.