Every night when Billy Brown's mother puts him to bed, she tells him to keep the covers on his bed so he doesn't catch cold. And every morning when she wakes him, he has kicked the covers off the bed. Knowing how proud Billy is of his belly button, his mother tells him that if he doesn't keep the covers on the bed, the Belly Button Beastie is going to pay him a visit and steal his belly button. Billy makes a critical error when he disregards his mother's advise. The chaos that ensues when Billy Brown gets up the next morning interferes with his morning routine and follows him to school, until he and his classmates devise a plan to get his round, brown belly button back. With a little improvisation and a lot of bravado, Billy Brown tames the Belly Button Beastie and breaks his belly-button-stealing habit for good. This whimsical, multicultural story adapted from a Japanese folktale, challenges stereotypes with a humorous retelling by the award-winning creative team of Bobby and Sherry Norfolk.

READING LEVELS: Lexile Level: 720L; Guided Reading: K