The runaway belly button

Grace's navel is sick and tired of getting "dirtier... and stinkier... and filthier," writes Flannery (Beard Boy), especially since Grace is so good at keeping the rest of her body clean ("We smell great!" say her feet, beaming). So Belly Button--drawn by Song (Love, Sophia on the Moon) as a tan circle with stick arms and legs, a resolute face, and a tousle of black hair that matches her owner's--makes a break for it, "down Grace's leg, through the house, and out the back door." Thanks to an encounter with Grace's car-washing father, Belly Button finally discovers the joys of being clean. She also finds that the outside world is fraught with predatory birds, sticky bubble gum, and, worst of all, an icky storm sewer, rendered in menacing scrawls and swirls of color. But Grace doesn't give up her runaway anatomy, and once the two are safely back home, she honors her promise to keep Belly Button tidy. The adventure portion of the story feels a bit familiar, but the novelty of a sentient navel protagonist enables this book to work as both solid entertainment and useful hygiene instruction. Ages 3--6. (Sept.)

A little girl's neglected belly button takes off on an adventure. Grace, a cute, quickly sketched girl with tawny skin and a straight black pageboy, excels at getting dirty, but she is also pretty good at getting clean. Most of her body parts get attention in the bath, but not Belly Button. So one day, an unbearably filthy Belly Button decides that she has had enough. She detaches and races out the door! A round figure sporting a haircut like Grace's and sticks for arms and legs, Belly Button charges into the great unknown. She finds a way to get herself clean but also runs into some unexpected excitement, getting both lost and dirty again. Unsurprisingly, she has a change of heart. Both Belly Button and Grace have a renewed appreciation for each other in the end, but the sly final page reminds readers of yet another unwashed body part….While the story is amusing and the illustrations appealing, the overall experience has little heft. As a reminder to children to wash all their body parts in the bath it works, but without a stronger element of friendship and adventure, it feels a bit thin. Charming depictions of Grace and Belly Button, with their rough outlines and dot eyes, are counterbalanced by a few confusing spreads without enough textual support. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 27% of actual size.) A droll tale with a simple message. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.