Where Is Baby's Belly Button? A Lift-the-Flap Book

by Karen Katz

Karen Katz's adorable babies play peekaboo in this delightful interactive book. The sturdy format and easy-to-lift flaps are perfect for parents and children to share.

"Where are Baby's hands? Under the bubbles!" "Where are baby's eyes? Under her hat!"

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Kids, Fiction, Bodies, Family

14 pages, Board Book

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Karen Katz has written and illustrated many books for children, including The Colors of Us, Can You Say Peace, My First Ramadan, Counting Kisses and Where is Baby's Belly Button. Long inspired by folk art from around the world, she was inspired to write her first book, Over the Moon, when she and her husband adopted their daughter from Guatemala, and she wanted to tell the story of welcoming Lena into their lives. Katz loves to paint and experiment with texture, color, collage and pattern. Besides an author and illustrator, she has been a costume designer, quilt maker, fabric artist and graphic designer. Katz and her family divide their time between New York City and Saugerties, New York.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/karenkatz

Reviews

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The suspense is built from the very beginning with the enigmatic title, "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" Karen Katz's exciting thriller for newborns pits the young reader in a race against time to find the elusive belly button. First, though, she deftly navigates the young reader through a checklist of other elusive body parts, like the eyes, mouth, feet, and hands with the use of an amazing technology called "lift-the-flap". Where are baby's eyes? I'll be darned---they're under the baby's hat! Where are baby's feet? Son of a---they've been behind the cat the whole time! Katz definitely knows how to weave an exciting narrative using nothing but cute baby body parts and lifting flaps. I personally found it exciting, and I can only imagine that my baby girl (three months old today) has had her tiny mind blown.

[Timothy Deer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The titular question is answered by page 3. No need to continue reading after that. Very disappointing.

[Audric the Illiterate · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s under her shirt.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

My baby did not care where baby’s bellybutton, eyes, or feet were and she promptly left my lap to go summit the stairs for the fifth time today.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't going to read this with Gabe until he got a bit older but we tried it out today and he dug. He was staring at the print, babies and flaps. At least at this young age he's not ripping the flaps off!

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little lift the flap book. Quite predictable which is good for development.

[Lacy | literary_lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loves this book! She looks at it all the time, and loves lifting the flaps!

This book is cute, and educational. It teaches children certain body parts, like toes, feet, belly button, etc. the sentences are short and simple, so it easily keeps my two little one’s attention.

The illustrations are pretty cute, but could probably use a modern makeover.

[good books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This board book I read is perfect for toddlers. Toddlers are always curious about their bodies and this book helps them learn body parts. It builds great vocabulary skills as well. Well written book I love it.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrowing and evocative suspense book. Written in the second person, the story's narrator will thrust you into the action as the main character demands the hunt for infant body parts... (*SPOILER* Yes, multiple parts. The author doesn't stop with the reveal of the titular baby belly button, thus proving once again that depths of depravity of the human mind know no bounds.)

[Starley]

K literally couldn’t contain her excitement over this book

[Jon Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much.

[Cassidy Smith]

I liked this book because again its interactive but the kids actually get to interact with the book by opening up the flaps to reveal where the baby’s body part is. Also when I was reading this in my class I asked the kids to show me where their eyes, mouth, and feet where. I would just emphasize the parts where we are finding out where the baby’s body parts are. Also I love that there are all kind of babies in here black, white, and Asian.

[Dominique McK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the only type of book I have the attention span for right now!! Casey loves it

[Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute, interactive book for small children that teaches basic body parts (e.g. hands, feet, mouth, etc.). Racially inclusive book and large print. There are flaps for children to lift. These are thick paper but still paper, so consider toddler age when interacting.

[Amanda Hesse]

charli really liked this :)

[Dana Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my favorite book to read to my girls but,alas, it does not matter because both Iris, age 2, and Rosemary, age 1, adore this book so we read it at least once a week if not once a night. The Karen Katz books are fantastic for these ages because they provide the child an opportunity to participate by lifting the flaps and/or guessing where the item in question is hiding. The book reinforces cause and effect and is perfect for older babies and young toddlers!

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The colors are bright and beautiful, with lots of contrasting textures. It's like a patchwork quilt, warm, comfy, with lots to draw in your eyes. The kids love the flaps, but like most flappy books I've seen, the drawback is that they can tear under little hands.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

5/7/2021 - Very cute and interactive book. A fun way to teach and be playful together.

7/16/2024 - Read with my daughter. The book is a little young for her, but she still enjoyed raising the flaps.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

At two months and counting, Josephine has loved this book- the 'lift the flap' features are a great surprise to her and the illustrations are perfect for her right now.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

classic lift-the-flap for babies

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

a classic for a reason, great baby board book that discussed body parts and directions

[Nephtali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi hija está aprendiendo sobre partes del cuerpo y este es uno de sus libros favoritos. Combinando peek-a-boo con el aprendizaje.

[Janey Merry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book! It’s an interactive board book perfect for little ones to play with and enjoy. Each page asks where certain body parts are hidden. This provides ANOTHER level of interaction as parents can point (or tickle!) on their own baby and pair words to their meaning! Reading time will be filled with giggles, engagement, and learning with this fascinating book.

Now, I still turn the pages and lift the flaps myself with my son only being 10 months old. I’m afraid his strong grasp and underdeveloped fine motor skills might lead to tearing. But believe you me, he will learn ASAP to treat books with the utmost care.

Funny thing, a toddler at our library’s Storytime LOVED pointing and showing off her own belly button whenever her mommy asked “where is your belly button?”
Is your baby ticklish? Did this book help teach the names of body parts? What age do kids start “reading” themselves?

[Paige Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interactive and educational peek-a-boo book featuring many adorably illustrated babies. It’s small and square. It is a board book made for small hands and aimed towards infants and toddlers. It features many bright colors, like vibrant greens, reds, yellows, and blues and large scale illustrations to catch the younger eyes. By turning each page, a child sees a baby and a question asking where their hands, feet, mouth, etc. are and as they lift the flaps they see where they are! This is a great introduction book and emphasizes the great developmental game of peek-a-boo as well as teaches babies and toddler body parts and you can tell them where those body parts are on their body along the way. This book allows for predictability which is also great for infants and toddlers development, and as infants and toddlers age they can begin to recite back the text!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best lift-the-flap book around, this book has been one of the most perused book by both of my kids (under 1 year old and under 3 year old). Use the book as a guide and point out the body parts on your child and you. It promises a lot of hours of educational entertainment!

Not only do babies learn about object permanence, where things still exist even though they are out of sight, toddlers also pick up the naming of body parts and the usage of prepositions (e.g. over, under, behind, etc) from it.

The only shortcoming is that the pages could not withstand the rough handling by curious little hands over time. I would have gladly paid more for better quality, thicker, rip-proof pages. No regrets though. The book has served us extremely well in its lifetime.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This lift-the-flap board book invites going readers to play a game of peekaboo naming various body parts.

Each two-page spread features a different baby and ask "Where is baby's [name of body part]?" The reader then lifts the flap in a peekaboo reveal.

This would be a great book to share with toddlers. Not only is it age appropriate fun, but it helps teach the names of bodies. The babies pictured are engaged in common activities, which affords young children the opportunity to reflect on their own experience. The babies depicted in the board book are also from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, making it inclusive for all readers.

[Erika L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another great book for babies to practice lifting the flap! I told the caregiver to either tickle the baby's body part (like the belly button) or point to the pictures to associate the word to the part. The baby was so great at practicing her words and lifting the flap! She would follow along with her mom, and either point to body parts she already knew, or her mom would point and tell her the word and the baby would repeat it! We had only one baby at storytime to day, but it was great to see how much the baby had learned during the course of the story.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

:) An adorable classic that teaches a few body parts. My little guy LOVED lifting the flaps! It's like overnight he's become cognizant of how lift-the-flaps work in books. By the time we got to the end, I think we had read every page 2-3 times. Very simple text. Illustrations feature babies with heads disproportionately large to their bodies. Oh well. Little man loves it, and I like that it teaches body parts. Cute book.

[Bailey Winter]

This book is a discovery book for young children. It has flaps that lift and children try to discover where the baby’s belly button is. This book is basically a play peekaboo book and very interactive for the reader and its audience. It’s a good book for parents and children to share together. It also would teach children words like over and under as it repeats that kind of language throughout the book.