Charlie Malarkey and the Belly-Button Machine — William Kennedy

In this collaboration between the Pulitzer Prizewinning author and his son, Charlie Malarkey wakes up to find his belly button is missing. A man named Ben Bubie arrives, with new and used buttons for sale. No dice for Charlie, who warns his friend Iggy to hide his belly button. But by morning, Iggy is also buttonless. Investigation leads them to Ben Bubie's place of business; the man has invented a terrible machine that both removes and restores belly buttons. The boys read the instructions and replace their own buttons (albeit crookedly), zap another button onto Bubie's nose and silence the machine forever. Baxter's eccentric, engaging pictures bring a zest of their own to the adventure, though the book's wit may appeal to slightly older readers than the picture-book audience. (All ages)