Wedding Readings From Children’s Books: 7 Cute Choices

Revisiting your favourite childhood books is a great place to start when looking for a meaningful wedding reading about love.

These wedding readings from children’s book are the perfect mix of nostalgic, uplifting and heartfelt, with wisdom beyond their little readers’ years.

Image: Suzi Photography

It would be a lovely touch to have a child or young teenager deliver one of these.

Here are our favourite wedding readings from children’s books.

Extract From The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

This is a gorgeous wedding reading option and a popular modern favourite.

‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’

‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When someone loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’

‘I suppose you are real?’ said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse only smiled.

‘Someone made me Real,’ he said. ‘That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.’

READ MORE: Wedding Readings From Love Songs

Some Things Go Together by Charlotte Zolotow

A cute and an easy wedding reading, perfect to give to a child.

Pairs of things that go together.

Pigeons with park
Stars with dark
Sand with sea
and you with me.

Hats with heads
Pillows with beds
Sky with blue
and me with you.

Image: Heni Fourie Photography

Extract from The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

This gorgeous imagery is ideal for a humanist ceremony.

“I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again… I’ll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one will ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you… We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams… And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we’ll be joined so tight…”

READ MORE: 35 Of The Most Romantic Quotes From Literature

Oh! The Places You’ll Go by Dr Seuss

For couples who don’t want to take their wedding readings too seriously, Dr Seuss offers up plenty of adventures.

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So… get on your way!

Image: Luke Hayden Photography

Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton

A lovely children’s book that translates perfectly into wedding reading magic.

I like you a lot
You’re funny and kind
So let me explain
What I have in mind.

I want to be Your Personal Penguin
I want to walk right by your side
I want to be Your Personal Penguin
I want to travel with you far and wide.

Wherever you go, I’ll go there too
Here and there and ev’rywhere
And always with you.
I want to be Your Personal Penguin
From now on.

Now lots of other penguins seem to do fine
In a universe of nothing but ice
But if I could be yours and you could be mine
A cosy little world would be twice as nice.

I want to be Your Personal Penguin
I want to talk with you night and day
I want to be Your Personal Penguin
I want to listen to whatever you say.

Look at these wings, so perfect to hold you
I’d like to say again
What I have already told you
Let me be Your Personal Penguin
From now on.

Now lots of other penguins seem to do fine
In a universe of nothing but ice
But if I could be yours and you could be mine
A cosy little world would be twice as nice.

I want to be (want to be) Your Personal Penguin
I want to walk right by your side
I want to be (want to be) Your Personal Penguin
I want to travel with you far and wide.

Wherever you go, I’ll go there too
Here and there and ev’rywhere
And always with you.

I want to be Your Personal Penguin
Imagine me, Your Personal Penguin
I want to be Your Personal Penguin
From now on.

READ MORE: Our Favourite Romantic Quotes

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

If in doubt look to A.A. Milne. Winnie the Pooh has so many lovely poems and quotes about love and friendship it’s hard to choose, but this extract is truly heartwarming.

“If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.”

Image: Gosfield Hall

I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg

A sweet and surprisingly honest look at love and relationships – a lovely reading for a beautiful wedding day.

I like you and I know why
I like you because you are a good person to like
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s special
And you remember it a long, long time
You say, Remember when you told me something special
And both of us remember
When I think something is important, you think it’s important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I’m funny and you think I’m funny too
Hah-hah!

I like you because you know where I’m ticklish
And you don’t tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes
But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too
You know how to be silly – that’s why I like you
If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,
then you are getting ready to jump
HOORAY!

I like you because when I am feeling sad
You don’t always cheer me up right away
Sometimes it is better to be sad
You can’t stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minute
You want to think about things
It takes time

I like you because if I am mad at you
Then you are mad at me too
It’s awful when the other person isn’t
They are so nice and oooh you could just about punch them on the nose

I can’t remember when I didn’t like you
It must have been lonesome then
Even if it was the 999th of July
Even if it was August
Even if it was way down at the bottom of November
I would go on choosing you
And you would go on choosing me
Over and over again
And that’s how it would happen every time.

If you’re having lots of children at your wedding, then they’ll love recognising their favourite book in your ceremony. They’ll also love these fun child-friendly wedding favours and ideas for outdoor wedding games.