The Ring Bearer

Written by: Floyd Cooper

First line: Mama is having a wedding, and Jackson is worried.

Why you should read this book: A really sweet story, lovingly illustrated, merges a small child's general anxiety about the changes that will come with a new blended family and his specific anxiety about tripping and falling down in front of everyone he knows while he participates in the wedding ceremony. Jackson is a warm-hearted little boy who likes his mother's fiancé and wants to be a good big brother to his new stepsister, Sophie, and the story is resolved when it is Sophie, and not Jackson, who ends up tripping while walking down the aisle, and Jackson throws caution (and the rings) to the wind in order to catch the little girl. The kids I read this story to were worried about the rings, but I let them in on the secret that the rings are sewed to the pillow because adults expect little kids to trip and fall down, and they felt much better.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You hate your stepfamily.