03 Sep / The Beast in My Belly by Grzegorz Kasdepke, illustrated by Tomek Kozłowski, translated by Agnes Monod-Gayraud
You know those days you forget to eat because you’re running around here and there, and your belly LOUDLY (usually at inopportune moments) reminds you to “FEEEEEED MEEEE!!!”? Those grumbles and rumbles DO sound just like a hidden beast! If you’re an inquisitive kid who hasn’t yet learned the intricacies of the digestive system, then you just might come up with such an explanation of your very own …!
A ginger-haired, bespectacled little girl announces to each member of her family, “There’s a beast in my belly.” Her appeals to “just listen!” go ignored, although her brother glibly responds, “It must be the chicken you ate for lunch.” Philosophical as only a preschooler can be, she muses, “That’s how families can be. Sometimes they just don’t take you seriously.”
She spends the rest of the day trying to figure out just what sort of beast might be in her belly – cat? mouse? lion? fish? She tries to explain her beast to anyone willing to listen, she takes it for a walk in the park, she shares her fears with it at night, and is dragged by it from bed for a midnight snack.
The next day, no one at preschool quite believes her beast exists, except for a single boy who warns her not to feed it lest it grow bigger. Only her teacher is able to soothe the worried little girl … because ice cream always helps! What will happen to her belly-beast now …?
Thanks to fabulously discerning, award-winning indie press Enchanted Lion Books, prolific Polish author Grzegorz Kasdepke makes a delightfully whimsical Stateside debut-in-translation. Artist Tomek Kozłowski charms Kasdepke’s playfully beastly tale with ingenuity (he turns an illustration on its side to show the impossible is possible), movement (he uses double images to capture separate conversations with a squirrel and birds in a single sentence), and so much humor (you’ll have to giggle over all that for yourself).
Together, the pair have figured out the perfect recipe to feed the hungry imagination. No to mention an existential quandary or two, too. Go ahead and indulge soon!
Readers: Children
Published: 2015