Isabel's Noisy Tummy by David McKee

Isabel's Noisy Tummy by David McKee
Buy Isabel's Noisy Tummy by David McKee at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Zoe Morris
Summary: A brilliant story about an important topic, this is well told and beautifully illustrated. A must-buy.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: February 2013
Publisher: Andersen
ISBN: 978-1849396899
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Isabel is a very good little girl with a very naughty tummy. It burbles and rumbles and gurgles loudly at school, and her teacher is not impressed. Everyone has advice on what to do to stop it making such rude noises. Her mother tells her to eat slower, but that doesn’t work. Her father suggests exercise, her doctor medicine, but still, no joy. But, one day on a school trip, Isabel’s tummy saves the day, and saves her classmates. And after that, well, no one really minds a noisy tummy any more.

This is a really sweet and humorous book that’s easy to read and enjoy. With only a few lines on each page, and nice big bright, very detailed pictures, there’s lots to talk about too, either before you turn the page or when the story’s finished. The scenario is a common one – who hasn’t had a tummy rumble in an awkward place? – and it’s a lovely way to show that sometimes you can’t control the noises that come out of you, no matter how hard you try.

The children in the story laugh, but I like to think they’re laughing with her. Isabel is embarrassed by her naughty tummy, but the kids aren’t mean to her, and even the teacher, though she gets annoyed, knows better than to tell her off for something she cannot control.

This book has lots of repetition, not in a poetic way but in a vocabulary building one. The children laugh and snigger and guffaw, for example. The teacher asks, and says, and sighs and snaps at Isabel. It’s a nice way to keep the beat of the story and allow you to know what’s coming next, but also introduce some synonyms.

I got this book with a little girl called Isabel in mind, but then wasn’t sure if it would be a book she would like, or one her sister would make fun of her for. I needn’t have worried. This is such a sweet book and Isabel is very much the star of the show, so I think she’ll be proud to re-read it again and again.

It has THE best punchline I’ve ever seen in a children's book. It made me laugh so hard in a way that you really don’t expect for an adult reading a story aimed at infant school children. I won’t put it here to spoil the excitement, but it’s just so awesome and matter of fact that it still makes me smile now.

Definitely recommended, this is a wonderful book for introducing a discussion about any inadvertent bodily function (burps, hiccups, the, erm, smellier ones) and what to do if it happens to you.

Thanks go to the publishers for sending us this book.

Recognize the name? Yep, this is the Elmer guy, already so popular in so many households, but his non-elephant books are great too. Why not look at Not Now, Bernard or any of his other books?

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You can read more book reviews or buy Isabel's Noisy Tummy by David McKee at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Isabel's Noisy Tummy by David McKee at Amazon.com.

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