Tasty Baby Belly Buttons

The story of the cute, spunky heroine Uriko-hime who was born from a melon will surely delight children of all ages. It is actually a retelling of the Japanese folktale Momotaro. Judy Sierra's narration is lovely. Tontoko-tontoko--I could hear Uriko-hime's wooden sandals. And Meilo So's illustrations are a real eye-candy.

As a Japanese language teacher in a Primary school, I have always shared the story of Momotaro with my students who are really fascinated with the oni (demons) and Momotaro's bravery and kindness. I was thrilled to find this new reworking of the traditional story with a female "hero" who was born from a large melon rather than a peach, and sets off to Onigashima to rescue the babies from the oni, accompanied by the dog, pheasant and the monkey, all sustained of course by the famous kibidango. A really enjoyable and fun read-aloud and a good teaching tool for comparing traditional stories with reworkings.

As a fourth grade teacher, I plan to use this book as an introduction to folklore. It is especially appealing to find a book with an Asian heroine.

My 3-year old loved this book after the first reading. If your child likes belly buttons, he or she will love this book and will soon be running around the house chanting: "Belly Button, Belly Buttons, Tasty Baby Belly Buttons."