School Library Journal : Grade 2-5. Soto's picture book provides a glimpse into an American cultural traditiona wedding with a Hispanic flair. Maya, the narrator, is a flower girl. Mariachi musicians provide the music, and for dinner the family and friends eat pollo con mole. There is a glossary for the handful of Spanish terms sprinkled throughout the text. Garcia's illustrations are wonderful. Sculpy clay figures are dressed up and carefully arranged in a wooden shadow box frame, and each page is set on a background of pastel with lace. Quirky tidbits sneak into the text and pictures?Tio Juan itches in his new shirt, Maya sticks black olives on her fingertips?these details give the narration the quality of childlike observation. The language at other times is quite sophisticated. Children who have been involved in a family wedding will easily draw comparisons to this story.

Booklist : Ages 5-8. There's nothing like a wedding, and this book about a wedding is not quite like any other. Soto takes readers to a Mexican American nuptial, and young Maya, the flower girl, is the lens through which the action is seen. All the fun of the event is here: the altar boy with the dirty sneakers under his gown, Maya putting pitted black olives on each of her fingers, the kids whacking one another with balloons. There are the more traditional moments as well--the wedding kiss, the wedding cake, and the toast to the bride and groom. The text's free verse could have been illustrated in many ways, but the choice of three-dimensional artwork was inspired. Created with Sculpy clay, acrylic paints, wood, ribbons, and flowers, the art is displayed in large boxes set against pages covered with lace. The doll-like members of the wedding are exaggerated just enough to be amusing; at times, just a body part or two are highlighted, as when Maya's feet are shown on top of her father's while they dance. Just like a wedding album, this will be looked at over and over.

Kirkus Reviews : From Soto (Off and Running, 1996, etc.), a celebratory, child's-eye look at a wedding that captures the traditional mingling of the surreal and the sublime. A flower girl, Maya, tells in a pitch-perfect accent about the groom, Rafael, who is at the altar with his arm in a cast (he slid into home playing softball and scored, but broke his wrist), and a host of other relatives and strangers. Crying babies, the altar boy's dirty sneakers, an inconvenient sneeze, and the glow in the bride Isabel's eyes are reported with equal fervor. At the reception, Maya puts a pitted olive on each finger, finds mole sauce on her gown, and dances, riding on her father's feet. While the family is Mexican-American, the wedding's touching and silly moments are universal. Garcia's illustrations, photographs of Sculpy clay figures and collage, are pink and white and delicious, reminiscent of both reredos and scenes from a dollhouse. With all the problem books in the world, it's a delight to encounter one that talks about a happy event and its attendant joys. This is a triumph of true-to-life storytelling, with all the good parts left in. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)