The Belly Book

by Joe Harris

Bellies come in all shapes and sizes. There are big ones, small ones, hot ones, cold ones, and even green ones! Learn about all kinds of bellies and the best way to take care of your very own belly–no matter what kind you have!

Genres: Childrens, Peer Review, Picture Books, Animals, Fiction, Nutrition

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 22, 2008

Reviews

[Ame · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off light and whimsical in praise of the belly and turns into healthy eating propaganda, which is fine but yeesh,

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/27/18 Read with Julia.
4/8/19 Read with Simon
9/24/20 Read with Julia
3/9/22 Read with Julia and Andres
3/17/25 Read with Charlotte
6/2/25 Read with Skylar

[Chantel Bahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a super fun book to read. It would be a great/silly book to incorporate during a healthy eating lesson in the classroom, but I believe it would have to be read by the teacher due to a few things within the book which could be misconstrued by students. The book calls people "fat" and such things. This would have to be talked about. A good opportunity to not only talk about healthy eating, but also why it is important to be kind to people who are struggling with their weight because not everyone has control or as easy control over how their body stores food as the rest of us.

[Stacy Atherton Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this multiple times to my kids and even once to an elementary classroom as a guest reader. It's funny, flows well, and has fun illustrations.

[Smars · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sends mixed messages on body positivity. Bellies that protrude and helpful... but also not? At least at the end the book emphasizes healthy eating for the sake of a healthy mind and not a thin body.

[Barb Hegreberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not at all what I was expecting.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun beginning reader book about bellies. The narrative is rhyming and the illustrations are fun. Each page only has one or two sentences, so it's not overwhelming for a young child who is just learning to read. And the colorful illustrations help children figure out any challenging words. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Marela Carmenaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book contains repetition and many rhyming words. Children can learn about the community careers. The book is very long so its best for children in 2nd grade and higher. The book contains easy math counting. The illustrations are simple, cartoonish, and colorful. A great book for children to learn about healthy habits and nutrition.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a warning message in this book, about the discomforts that occur when you eat too much junk food. People should capt this message and change their eating habits. Very reach and simple vocabulary for preschoolers. I will use this book to show the class the contrast of a good an bad eating habits.

[Vinitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 3 year old found this book hilarious - for days she went around poking bellies and saying Hard Belly, Soft Belly, Bunny Belly, Funny Belly.
It also talks a bit about healthy eating which is always a great reminder for kids

[Sophie]

I read this one with dad at the kid's table in the children's section of the LaSalle library. It was election day, and I had an outing with mom and dad. We went to Tim Hortons and then came here to read some books and play iPad games.

[Margaret Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a cute, silly book. The nutrition aspect is great to teach eating healthy. Wasn't crazy about the "big" belly pages. I wouldn't want any child to feel ashamed if they had a big belly.

[Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts off nice and simple, but later talks about eating habits. This book's purpose is to help children balance their diets so that they don't get big bellies. I would recommend this book to parents that want to help their children to be healthy in way that is fun and easy.

[Courtney Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was a silly book, that had bright and interesting illustrations. This would be a good book to read to a young child when the child is learning to compare similarities and differences, and also a good story to talk about nutrition. The story was a little long.

[Tate Rytky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tate says the pictures are funny but the book is boring.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is funny with a great message.

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun reading with a little one who's just learning how to read. The illustrations are great for helping guess the more difficult words.

[Olivia Brown]

book of opposites

colorful

funny book

nice vocabulary

[Ana Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book describes a lot of different types of people.
Colorful illustrations.
Teach about nutrition
It is very informative.

[Jane Njoroge · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Belly Book
by Joe Harris
The book talks about nutrition, very long,with rhyming words. The book is involving and teaches children about different nutrition.

[Maria Almaguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talks about opposites. Lots of fun and colorful illustrations. Funny book. Very long. the plot of the story was all over the place.

[Kaelyn Wickline · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great, colorful book that holds the children's attention. it has great vocabulary with a great illustrations.

[Wendy Bethancourt]

this is a good book to teach children opposites such a big and small, there are different opposites through out the story. it uses phonic words

[Blanca Tello · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book can be used when teaching about body parts. Also groups people, so children can see a similarity in them. Uses positional words numbers and descriptive words.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is fine, but the illustrations were a little off-putting.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

not our favorite book to say the least. good showing that every ones different but could have been presented very differently.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A darling book about bellies - something we all have :)

[Heather Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

megan winter reading 2017, children's book, leveled reader, easy reader, belly, i can read it all by myself, first grade, second grade

[Wench · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmmm, let's see. Bellies of different sizes, everyone has a belly, good good... ah, THERE'S the FAT! OOGA BOOGA! portion of the show. Greaaaaaaaaaat.

My MIL is like, 0 for 20 on buying books for my kid.