Bear Has a Belly

by Jane Whittingham

In this multilayered Big, Little Concepts book for preschoolers, explore body parts along with animals and celebrate the differences and similarities of our wonderful bodies.

A soft, round belly,
Bear has a belly.
I do too!

Do you have a nose like Fox, cheeks like Squirrel, and a tongue like Frog does? In rhythmic text perfect for an energetic read-aloud, Bear Has a Belly points out Moose’s legs, Otter’s back, and Duck’s feet, inviting little ones to chime in with every body part they share in common. Bright photographs of the animal friends are paired with images of real children of diverse backgrounds and abilities who are joyfully engaging with that body part.

Jane Whittingham, author of Animals Move and A Good Day Ducks, channels her expertise as a children’s librarian into yet another celebration of active preschooler fun. The chant-along text supports pattern recognition for language learning and reading readiness, and a closing spread of enriching age-appropriate activities invite further exploration and learning. The book’s Toddler Tough format with a padded cover, rounded corners, and extra-heavy pages makes it a sturdy choice for endless repetitions of foot-stomping, belly-laughing, body-positive story times.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Nonfiction, Childrens, Bodies, Kids

24 pages, Hardcover

Published September 13, 2022

About the author

Jane Whittingham is a picture book author, librarian, blogger and all-around book lover. She is passionate about cats, tea, sushi and travel. She is the author of Animals Move (2022), Wild About Camping (2022), Only the Trees Know (2022), Bear Has a Belly (2022), Queenie Quail Can't Keep Up (2019), A Good Day for Ducks (2018) and Wild One (2017). You can catch up with Jane at her website, www.raincitylibrarian.ca.

Reviews

[Annie MacPherson]

GREAT use of repetition and repetitive syntax! Can't wait to do this one in storytime :))

[Kris]

2024 Indiana Firefly Award Nominee

Grandchild favorite! Really well-done photographs illustrate this book of body parts on both children and animals. Would work very well for a toddler storytime.

[Connie]

So delightful!

[Nancy]

The animal photographs were so great!

[Morton Public Library]

Attention-grabbing | Photographic illustrations | Toddler-friendly (appeal terms from NoveList) - Emma

[Emma]

This is a great picture book/board book. The pages are not quite board book pages, but are stiffer and more durable than normal paper. The text is bold and very repetitive, in the sentences on a page, as well as the style of every page repeating.

"Bear has a belly.
A soft, round belly.
Bear has a belly.
I do too."

This repetition helps kids feel like they know what to expect, and allows them to "read" the last 2 sentences in each stanza, as they will already know what they will say.

Aside from supporting literacy with the text, the content of the book is also fantastic. We all have body parts, and animals do too. Describing our bodies in these neutral, factual ways helps children learn that their bodies are not good or bad, wrong or right, or too ____ (big, small, hairy, bald, tan, pale...) Bodies are not decorative, they are functional! There's also something important about being able to identify similarities between yourself and others, especially others who might seem very different from ourselves. A bear is very different from me, but we both have bellies. There are always ways to connect if you look for them.

The book also has some great tips for grownups on the back pages, and explains the different ways this book can support healthy relationships, self-esteem, and pre-reading & school readiness.

[Barbara]

Appealing photographs of animals and youngsters provide visual appeal to this board book that shows what they and the little ones have in common when it comes to body parts. While Bear certainly does have a belly, so does a child. Even a duck, an otter, and a frog have similar body parts with a young human. The animal photographs spread across the gutter on facing pages, taking up one entire page on the left-hand side and one-fourth on the right, leaving the rest of the three-fourths for the human image. Not only is this a sturdy padded board book, making it comfortable for small hands and multiple uses, but there are five suggestions for parents, caregivers and teachers in the back matter that extend the contents of the books and remind them to nurture body positivity and being physically active. The photographs are charming and will make readers smile while pointing to their own body parts and learning their names.

[Stephanie Tournas]

What a great book about body parts for the young child! Sharp, vivid closeup photographs of animals and kids demonstrate that they both have ears, eyes, a nose, etc. Simple, sing-song text invites the reader to interact with the book. On the verso: “Frog has a tongue – / A long, sticky tongue. / Frog has a tongue.” (A close view of a frog with its tongue out), and on the recto: “I do too!” (A little girl sticks her tongue out.) Who doesn’t like to help a toddler find their eyes, their cheeks, or their belly?!

Animals shown are familiar to little kids, such as a rabbit, a squirrel or a bear, and the kids are a nicely diverse crew, with different skin colors, races, and abilities. The book is larger than a standard board book, which would make it perfect for story time. A page at the end suggests movement activities.

[bjneary]

From a blog post, this Jane Whittingham book is perfect for my animal loving grandson, and the pictures, photographs of the many different animals AND children each with a different body part highlighted. With activities detailed at the end, this book is perfect for little minds, hands and eyes, the pages are heavy but not board book material, they will stand up to the sometimes rough little hands turning those pages! Highly recommended!

[Kathy]

This would work well for both baby and toddler storytimes, as vivid photographs point out that different animals have different body parts, just like the reader: Owls have eyes, and I do too! Babies can have the parts touched by their adult, toddlers can do it themselves. Even older kids can talk about how their body part can be described differently: Frog has a long, sticky tongue. What is their tongue like? The back page has hints on how to read and expand on the text with children.

[A Allen]

Each spread in this book shows a beautiful photograph of a wild animal on the left and then a smaller photograph of a child on the right, along with text about a body part that both have, such as a nose. I was thrilled to see the disability representation too; two of the children wear glasses and another seems to have a blind cane. I would highly recommend this book for your home or classroom library.

[Jennifer]

Very simple, repetitive text describes different body parts of different animals and asks the reader if they have that body part, too. The illustrations are fabulous photographs of the animals showing off that body part with a second photo of a kid showing off/using that body part as well. The kids photographed are beautifully diverse and all look happy. A great story time book for the youngest crowd (0-3)!

[Monica]

Adorable book for the smallest readers! Photographs instead of illustrations make this very up-to-date in appearance which is nice for a littles book as it doesn’t seem like you see much in the way of photographs for this age group. I would place in the purchase worthy shelf except it is printed in china and I do not purchase anything from China if I can help it😡

[Samantha]

*4 Stars*

Solid "comparisons" book for babies and toddlers, exploring similarities between animal body parts and child body parts. Could be very interactive in a baby or toddler storytime, especially given it's decent size, glossy nature photos, and thick board book-like pages. Saving for future storytime use. Recommended by Jbrary.

[Christiana]

This'll be fun for a body parts or all about me storytime!

[Jennifer Miera]

Perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

[Spinster]

This one is fun to read out loud.

[Jennifer]

My child is obsessed with this books. It has some lesser talked about body parts like cheeks and back. Very cute.

[Marcie]

Photos are lovely.

[Maeghan Nutmeg Librarian]

Bold images, good repetition, and an opportunity for a tummy tickle! Could I possibly ask for more?! One I look forward to reading with the littles.

[Erin]

I thought the inclusivity and photographs were really well done. :D

[D'Anne Mosby]

Read this with a friend—you both might have ears like a rabbit, eyes like an owl, feet like a duck! You might have more in common with these animals than you first thought!

[Wendy Harkrider]

Bears have bellies. So do we humans. This book uses animals to make young children aware of the name and location of body parts.

[The Loco Librarian]

An adorable book about animal body parts that humans have too with photographs of animals and humans.

[Cheryl Gladfelter]

I love these books from this author and can't wait to use this one in storytime. Wonderful, diverse mix of pictures for the "I do too!" responses.

[Celeste]

Good fun for toddlers

[Angelika]

Rabbit has ears! - I do too! Awesome large pictures
Great for learning parts of body
used with puppets

[Marian Librarian]

09/10/25

[Michelle Halber]

Brightly colored pictures would work well with storytime.

[Katie]

Ellie loves this so much. Real animal photos, and photos of kids!