Happy Belly, Happy Smile [Hardcover]

Rachel Isadora (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2009 | Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Every Friday Louie sees the hustle and bustle behind the scenes at his grandpa's Chinese restaurant. The chef's hands fly as he chops vegetables, the delivery boy zips in for a pickup, and the waiters holler out order after order. Then it's time to eat. Grandpa offers Louie a whole fish and crabs. "No, thank you, Grandpa!" But the dumplings, egg rolls, and chow mein sure look good. No trip to the Chinese restaurant is complete without a fortune cookie: "Happy food, happy belly, happy smile."

Caldecott Honor-winner Rachel Isadora brings a dynamic restaurant to life with beautiful cut-paper collages reminiscent of Eric Carle and Ezra Jack Keats.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description
Every Friday Louie sees the hustle and bustle behind the scenes at his grandpa's Chinese restaurant. The chef's hands fly as he chops vegetables, the delivery boy zips in for a pickup, and the waiters holler out order after order. Then it's time to eat. Grandpa offers Louie a whole fish and crabs. "No, thank you, Grandpa!" But the dumplings, egg rolls, and chow mein sure look good. No trip to the Chinese restaurant is complete without a fortune cookie: "Happy food, happy belly, happy smile." Caldecott Honor-winner Rachel Isadora brings a dynamic restaurant to life with beautiful cut-paper collages reminiscent of Eric Carle and Ezra Jack Keats.

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A Look Inside Happy Belly, Happy Smile
(Click on Images to Enlarge)

Friday is my favorite day...	There is a big fish tank in the window...

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From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1—This slight vignette follows Louie's weekly Friday visit to his grandfather's restaurant in Chinatown. He watches the chefs, waiters, delivery boy, and other workers go through their routines. He eats dinner with Grandpa Sam and runs into a friend. The story has essentially no plot and lacks transitions, making the reading choppy. The collage and oil illustrations are brightly colored and utilize some interesting materials, including actual fortune cookies and paper scraps. However, they are static, and the depictions of some of the Chinese characters verge on stereotypical. Isadora is at her best with the vivid fish tank and decorations; the photos of actual food and pieces of take-out menus are also effective. While the child/grandfather angle brings immediacy to the story, at heart it is just a laundry list of things that happen in a Chinese restaurant. And without cohesiveness or a strong story line, it is unlikely to warrant repeated readings. Pick up a copy of Ted Lewin's Big Jimmy's Kum Kau Chinese Take Out (HarperCollins, 2002) or Grace Lin's Dim Sum for Everyone! (Knopf, 2001) and pass on this forgettable offering.—Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT END

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (September 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152065466
• ISBN-13: 978-0152065461
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,185,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Toddler LOVES this book, May 18, 2010

By 

onlylucky (singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Happy Belly, Happy Smile (Hardcover)

My two year old LOVES this book. The illustrations are very imaginative and the story flow, from page to page, is perfect for a toddler.

I am so not looking forward to returning this book to the library. Looks like we are going to have to purchase a copy. Something I am more than happy to do given the joy it has brought to our reading-time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Friday night, time to go to Grandpa's Chinese Restaurant!, November 7, 2009

By 

KSL "emma-and-me" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Happy Belly, Happy Smile (Hardcover)

This book reminds me of two of my daughter's favorite author's / illustrators all rolled into one book. The illustrations are not illustrations but actually like the very famous Eric Carl's painted paper collage pages and also some of Amy Wilson Sanger who uses bits and pieces of actual pictures of objects and menus.

This is the story of Louie a young Chinese-American boy who goes every Friday to visit his Grandpa Sam's Chinese Restaurant. He visits not only his grandfather, but his friends who work for grandpa in the kitchen chef, or delivering the yummy food to the table or to people at home.

Rachel Isadora's oil painted paper is bright and colorful and also includes some Oragami paper, photos of actual items like menus and clip art. I love her Chinese lanterns and the big Lion Dancer costume that hangs in the restaurant. Lots of hard and detail work went into making each delightful page!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Insult to Asian Culture, August 26, 2010

By 

Planet Earth "Planet Earth" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Happy Belly, Happy Smile (Hardcover)

From a general point of view, the book is fine...pretty good illustrations, simple to read. From an Asian point of view this book is an incredible stereotype of what apparently the author thinks is Asian culture. It sounds more like it was to be written from the point of view of a non-Asian character exploring the world of Chinese cuisine in America, so why is the main character Chinese? If for instance she had used the black kid from the story as the main character, this all would've made more sense.

They eat stereotypical American-Chinese inventions like shrimp chow mein and spareribs, and on top of that the Chinese boy claims to not know ho to use chopsticks and is disgusted when the waiter brings out a fish with the head on it. Again, it sounds like the main character is not supposed to be Chinese, yet he is. And just when you think the stereotypes are done, grandpa breaks out the fortune cookies (another completely non-Asian, totally American invention) and reads in typical broken grammar you'd come to expect from an immigrant, "Happy belly, happy smile."

The insult is that this non-Asian author tried to write a story from the point of view of an Asian family, and employed all kinds of stereotypes that actual Asians like myself find hilarious. Publishers, please. Next time you want to do stories about certain cultures find someone of that culture to write it, or at least even be an advisor on it. Otherwise you'll end up with a story about a Mexican kid who goes to Taco Bell and is fascinated by all the cultural wonders and cuisine there.