Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs
My rating: 5/5 cats
first, look at the cover. now, look at the endpapers:
how are you going to say “no” to that?? you’re not. because not only is it a beautifully designed book, the story itself is great, and if i could stand to be around children, i would give them this book, because it is both fun and good for them, like flintstones vitamins.
i saw this on a cart in the basement at work while i was waiting for the elevator, and the colors attracted me. me being me, i yanked it out from the middle, causing a minor book avalanche. i sort of cleaned it up (sorry, kids department), but then the elevator came, and i ran on, clutching the book to my chest like some indiana jones prize, cackling guiltily to myself. i immediately emailed ariel to find out what she knew about it, and not only did she know the designer, but she sent me a copy of my own because she is truly the best.
like this book.
i really love this book. not only is it a great story about the world’s best possible theme park-zoo, where the animals are respected and kept in enclosures which mimic their natural environments (with real snow! in texas!), but there is a great mystery at the center of it all—who murdered henry the hippo? and why?
this is not a kiddie-kid book, it is not cutesy, but it is still fun; no mean feat. i think it would work really well read aloud, plus it has tons of animal facts that bring the animal kingdom alive for the little ones, and teach them about how to properly comport themselves at the zoo, and how to respect the animals and to recognize certain behaviors to know what is danger and what is not.
there is also a lot of poop in this book. and who doesn’t like poop? i know plenty of adults who are fascinated by, and quite taken with, their own poop, but kids still like poop jokes, right? it is always appearing in a natural context, not scatology for scatology’s sake, but there is a serious amount of poop in this book. moving on…
for you purists—there is absolutely no anthropomorphism here. it is a zoo story, with true animal facts and everything is done very respectfully and truly. i didn’t know what to expect going into this—if there was going to be a kangaroo detective and a badger with a magnifying glass, but it was handled in the best way possible.
also, the last chapter is called “who did it,” in case you get lazy. but you won’t because it is a really great read. and not “a really great kids read.” this spans age groups, provided you aren’t the biggest of all possible book snobs.
just nice work all around.
a round of applause for simon and schuster…
and hippos!!
i was totally going to write a proust review tonight, but i got so excited by this that proust has to wait. i am not in the mood to write measured and intelligent right now—just summertime fun!
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