Tasty Baby Belly Buttons

This is a fantastic book for preschoolers and early elementary aged kids. The heroine is a brave Japanese girl who was born from a melon. The illustrations are gorgeous. My daughter and I love reading this book.

Storytime

My 5 year old daughter really enjoys this book.

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.

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.

It's a superb Japanese fairy tale that cries to be told. Children will giggle and chant the refrain with the teller/reader.