This book is quite fun, but you can probably guess that just by the title alone which arouses curiosity. This story is based on a well-known Japanese folktale. Sometimes it is told with the main character as a male, but this story offers the female version. Our little brave Uriko is going to save her village from the nasty oni, but she does not journey alone. Author Sierra celebrates friendship, community, and bravery while illustrator So celebrates the traditional features of the Japanese culture in architecture, dress, and food. Readers alike will smile as they chanting along to, “Belly buttons, belly buttons, tasty baby belly buttons!” despite the realization of what that implies. ( )

This book is a very good multicultural book that can be used to talk about culture. According to legend, Japanese villagers once lived in fear of great hulking ogres called Onis who considered babies' belly buttons the tastiest of all treats. When they raided a village it was the babies they stole. In a delightful retelling of the folktale, Judy Sierra has added a feminist twist in the person of a fearless young heroine, determined to stop them. Age Range: 5 and up

A little girl born from a melon sets off with a dog, a pheasant and a monkey and a bag of millet dumplings to rescue the village babies kidnapped by the terrible giant oni for their delectable belly buttons.

My students love this! Their teachers and parent look concerned when they hear us chant! ( )

There was an old couple who wished they had a child to teach things to. One day, the lady was by the river and found a melon. Just before she and her husband cut it open, they heard a cry. Inside the melon was a baby girl. Her parents taught her all the things they wanted to teach their child. In the village, huge monsters with horns came and kidnapped babies to get their belly buttons. The couple's daughter was not taken because she did not have a belly button. Instead, the little girl wanted to rescue all the babies. On her way to the village, she met a monkey and a pheasant that helped her defeat the monsters. I did not really like this book. I think it wouldbe appropriate for older grades because it has some difficult words and long paragraphs.