Tío and Tío: The Ring Bearers

by Ross Mathews, Wellinthon García-Mathews, Drew Barrymore (foreword)

From Ross Mathews (The Drew Barrymore Show and RuPaul’s Drag Race) and his husband, Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews, comes a heartwarming and humorous tale of love and family as two young boys travel to Mexico to be ring bearers in their uncles’ wedding.

From Emmy-winning TV host and producer Ross Mathews (The Drew Barrymore Show and RuPaul’s Drag Race) and Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews comes a heartwarming and humorous tale of family, friendship, and love inspired by their real-life wedding.

Evan and Andy are excited to visit Mexico for their uncles’ wedding—and their parents are excited that the boys will have a chance to experience the culture, practice their Spanish, and learn responsibility as ring bearers in the ceremony. Once they arrive, Evan and Andy just want to play soccer, swim, and eat all the great food. However, once the festivities are in full swing and the boys witness the love and happiness between their two tíos, they quickly embrace their role in their uncles’ very special day.

This debut picture book written by Ross Mathews and Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews, and illustrated by Tommy Doyle, reminds us about the importance of love, family, and embracing one’s cultural identity.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Fiction, Childrens, LGBT

Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2025

About the author

Ross Mathews is an American television personality. He made his television debut as an intern and a correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where he was known as "Ross the Intern".

He is a regular judge on VH1/LOGO's Emmy-winning hit show RuPaul's Drag Race. Mathews can be heard weekly on his top-rated podcast Straight Talk with Ross Mathews[PodcastOne] where he gives his hilarious take on the latest entertainment news and gossip. He lives in Los Angeles and Palm Springs with his partner.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet and charming story from the perspective of two boys traveling from New York to be the ring bearers for their uncle and uncle-in-law in Mexico. We learn about the importance of being a ring bearer and get some cute moments of the boys planning how to keep the rings safe in case unexpected things happen like parrots flying in the window to steal them.
It integrates a couple references to their culture, like the type of desserts and snacks at the wedding, mom growing up in the Dominican Republic, and a few words in Spanish, while maintaining a quick pace and lovable characters.
Definitely recommend for anyone seeking a story for young kids about the role of ring bearer and/or queer Latin American identities. Or even just a charming well-illustrated story that integrates a bit of Spanish into it.

[leticia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook version. The book felt really long. I liked that it had Spanish words and their translations, which could be helpful to kids who may be trying to learn a little. It reminded me of Dora the Explorer. However the audio narration was so painful to listen to as the person didn’t pronounce the words properly, especially when the book stated the mother was from the Dominican Republic. A native Spanish speaker should have narrated this book.

[Andrew Dittmar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading history:
Normally I keep this in my private notes section, but I'm moving it. Yay!

Reading history was not added on Goodreads, but was instead kept on a post-it note with the book.

Started April 24th, 2025.
Finished April 24th, 2025.

April 24th, 2025: read entire book

[Laura M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is clear: it’s about Evan and Andy as ring bearers. The amount of extra dialogue and information is unnecessary and makes the story drag on. Nice illustrations and family dynamics but LOTS of extra dialogue.

[Alejandra RL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo importante de la historia es que no solamente muestra la diversidad del amor, también celebra la multiculturalidad y el habla bilingüe.

Definitivamente es un cuento entretenido para todas las edades.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate what this book was trying to do, but it was sooo wordy and long. I think some kids could sit through this long book, but others might bored. Or maybe I just did. It did have cute moments and some action with the rings going missing.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clunky and with WAY too much attention given to Drew Barrymore, but the artwork was gorgeous and we can always use more children's books with queer celebrations. My favorite part is the real-life pic of Ross and Wellinthon - they look so beautiful and happy!

[Rachelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bright illustrations and cute dialog.

[Megan Britton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute. And Drew Barrymore! :)

[Jabez Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story with beautiful illustration and an opportunity to practice my Spanish.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very sweet book in theory, but super wordy dialog. It feels like it is trying to be a short chapter book and a picture book when really it should have just picked one.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly adorable book about a wedding and the two ring bearer boys who are dedicated to make it a great one!


I saw this one on Youtube, told by the authors, and I just loved the whole backstory of it. About their jobs, about the wedding, about the idea, even about Drew Barrymore who was their flower girl and how in the book she is still part but then a tinier version + that she wrote the foreword. Plus, we learn that the book is bilingual because Wellingthon’s family is from Dominican Republic. I also love that there is even a whole Spanish book for the community. LOVE! So yeah, even before we got to the book I was just totally in love with it all. I couldn’t wait to get to see this book.

In this book we meet two boys who are about to be ringbearers for their uncles wedding. They are super excited and I just loved seeing them play imaginary soccer and asking all the questions when they got aboard the plane, it was so cute. Especially when they thought they would have to wear bear outfits (ringbearers, get it). I loved the trip to Mexico and seeing them see new sights and learn new words. I loved how dedicated they were to being the best ringbearers. It was fabulous seeing how sweet the family was together.

The pre-wedding party and the actual wedding were just so much fun and I would have loved to step into the story many a times to be part of the celebrations.

I absolutely love that the authors switched between each other on reading out loud and holding the pages so we could see the illustrations.

The illustrations were just so pretty and I love love the style! Plus, I love the addition of the photographs at the end~

And the learning Spanish words was done in such a fun and natural way! I learned some new words!

All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend this wonderful, cute, sweet book to everyone.

Review also posted on https://twirlingbookprincess.com/