What Is a Bellybutton?: First Questions and Answers About the Human Body

Cute and educational with lovely pictures.

I read some of the pages of this book to my three-year daughter on last night. We are working on minor body parts (wrists, ankle, heel, thigh, under arms, etc.,). We sang: The Five Senses Song; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; Dem Bones, Dem Bones. We did the nursery rhyme, "Where is Thumbkin" --- traced her hand on paper and pointed to body parts on her doll. This book is great addition! I'm not sure she understands every word but it does provoke discussion on the body. It has a page on tickling, wearing eyeglasses, hiccups, why we eat, and more. The pictures have lots to look at and discuss. I'm sure we'll read this book over and over, she enjoyed the book! Mommy and preschooler are pleased.

This book covers a wide range of human body topics in a question and answer format. Each is illustrated with a little girl and sometimes her friends and teddy bear. My four year old loves this book and has for a while. She also likes Franklin goes to the Hospital, so not sure if it is just the general human body/medical info she likes or this specific book. The book is interesting and exposes her to science. It can take a while to read it though, since it does have 47 pages with 3-4 sentences per 2-page spread, along with little bonus info boxes on many pages.The questions covered include:Why do I get hungry?What happens to the food I eat?Why do I have to brush my teeth?Why do I have to put on sunscreen?Why do my friend and I have different skin colors?Why do I breathe faster when I run?What makes my arms and legs so strong?Why do I bleed when I cut myself?Why do I have to go to the doctor?Why do I have to get a shot if I don't feel sick?Why do loud noises hurt my ears?What happens when you break a bone?Why does a bright light make me squint?Why do some people wear glasses?Why do I sneeze?Why don't things taste good when my nose is stuffy?Why am I ticklish?Why do I get hiccups?What is a bellybutton?Why can't fathers have babies?I should note that this last one has a very general explanation that only mommies have a "place inside them" called the uterus for babies to grow, so enough info for a preschooler but not too much to raise too many questions =)I have noticed that reviews of other books in this series complain there are few non-white kids, but that is not the case in this one. A wide range of kids are shown, of different ethnicities. The little girl and her family shown in most illustrations have brown skin and black hair, but exact ethnicity is not clear. The book does address skin color, explaining that melanin makes skin different colors and that we are all the same inside.