Over the years I’ve read a lot of children’s books to our grandchildren, now ages 6 to 13, but it isn‘t often I get the opportunity to review such a book. I’d say The Great Bellybutton Cover-up by Susan Ross (ISBN-10: 9780981063409, ISBN-13: 978-0981063409, 32 pages) could easily become a favorite.
The Great Bellybutton Cover-up was first created for a sheep-shearing event at the Fanshawe Pioneer Village in London, Ontario. The story opens with our heroine, Violet, winning the County Fair Sheep Beauty Contest. But Violet’s celebration is short-lived when Farmer Shepherd’s sheep shearing takes place.
Shorn? Oh my! What’s a beauty queen to do when her award-winning fluffy white wool is gone and her bellybutton exposed for all the fair-going public to gawk at?
Well, this beauty queen gets inventive. Cotton candy, feathers, balloons? There’s no stopping her. Violet’s attempts to resolve her predicament in a ladylike manner are creative, colorful and full of humor!
The illustrations in The Great Bellybutton Cover-up are simple yet beautifully done by Megan Stiver and will surely spur children’s imaginations to come up with even more creative ways for Violet to find solutions to her problem. I can only imagine the conversations that will follow this clever read. Ross then tops off her tale by offering parents (and teachers) a step-by-step, interactive craft “How to Make Your Very Own Violet” to do with their children.
Yep, The Great Bellybutton Cover-up is the total package — and it’s a delight I would highly recommend to teachers, parents and grandparents of children ages 3 to 9. (The older children will love reading this book themselves.) Nothing but five stars for this book will do.
Susan Ross has also authored The Kit Kat Caper, Say Please to the Honeybees and The Rose and the Lily.
The Great Bellybutton Cover-up was first created for a sheep-shearing event at the Fanshawe Pioneer Village in London, Ontario. The story opens with our heroine, Violet, winning the County Fair Sheep Beauty Contest. But Violet’s celebration is short-lived when Farmer Shepherd’s sheep shearing takes place.
Shorn? Oh my! What’s a beauty queen to do when her award-winning fluffy white wool is gone and her bellybutton exposed for all the fair-going public to gawk at?
Well, this beauty queen gets inventive. Cotton candy, feathers, balloons? There’s no stopping her. Violet’s attempts to resolve her predicament in a ladylike manner are creative, colorful and full of humor!
The illustrations in The Great Bellybutton Cover-up are simple yet beautifully done by Megan Stiver and will surely spur children’s imaginations to come up with even more creative ways for Violet to find solutions to her problem. I can only imagine the conversations that will follow this clever read. Ross then tops off her tale by offering parents (and teachers) a step-by-step, interactive craft “How to Make Your Very Own Violet” to do with their children.
Yep, The Great Bellybutton Cover-up is the total package — and it’s a delight I would highly recommend to teachers, parents and grandparents of children ages 3 to 9. (The older children will love reading this book themselves.) Nothing but five stars for this book will do.
Susan Ross has also authored The Kit Kat Caper, Say Please to the Honeybees and The Rose and the Lily.