Everybelly

K-Gr 2–An energetic young child with light brown skin is waist-high next to most of the adult neighbors. As everyone in the building heads to the pool, she introduces her neighbors through their bellies. Outside the narrator, very few heads and faces are seen. There’s Mr. Mendoza, who is quiet except when talking to his daughter in Argentina; Ms. Yamaguchi, who runs the grocery store; and Jackie the artist. Lam’s paper collage art showcases a wide range of stomachs: with six-packs, rolls, stretch marks, wrinkles, scars, insulin pumps, tattoos, and from young to old and big to small. Outside of bellies, the bodies they’re part of offer clues to a range of abilities and disabilities, including a leg prosthesis and a wheelchair user; they are  also racially and ethnically diverse (one adult wears modest swimwear). While visually the adults are glimpsed through their stomachs, the narrator rarely comments on anyone’s actual shape, except for a pregnant neighbor and the fact that Mama’s belly feels like home. The narrator does comment on their own belly, which is big when it’s full and flat when it’s hungry, followed by a long list of all the food they’d like to put there. The art is great in showcasing joy in all types of bodies, while the text is about showcasing joy in all types of personalities. They pair perfectly for a wonderful and uplifting tale.