Belly Up

One of the first scenes is Teddy being "arrested" by security guard Large Marge for giving the chimpanzees water balloons-I was in love...Teddy feels the same way about large groups of people that I do. They are annoying, messy, and inconsiderate (in general), and he hates seeing the animals at FunJungle treated badly by visitors ignoring the posted rules (like don't bang on the glass, or please don't feed the animals). He's had an exciting life up to this point, and now he's bored out of his skull. Until FunJungle's mascot, Henry the Hippo turns up dead! Besides being a great middle grade mystery, this book is filled with fun little facts about animals. Did you know that a hippo forcefully shoots lots of poop and flips it around with show more its tail to mark its territory or show its dominance? Neither did I until I read this book, and that's only the beginning! Read it to find out more! show less

Belly Up was not what I was expecting. I was expecting hilarity. Sure it has a dead hippo on the cover, but the cartoonish of it, plus the colors... Actually, Belly Up is rather morbid. It’s still great fun, but fun in the what’s-gonna-happen-next way, not in the oh-look-monkies! kind of way.

Chapter 1 of Belly Up met my expectations. There’s a mischievous kid in a zoo, dodging the adults who want to put an end to his fun. And then there’s poop. Lots and lots of poo. Poo continues to make appearances throughout the novel, but it’s in this first chapter than poo really makes its grand entrance. I think I could argue that poop is actually the protagonist of this novel.

That first chapter sets the stage for what ends up being a show more very different book. The story becomes increasingly darker as it goes on. There are still bits of humor from beginning to end, but they’re mixed in with a larger story that focuses on murder, attempted murder, and some all-out grossness. Seriously, the climax of this novel makes that fair scene from Problem Child 2 as sweet as cotton candy.

Belly Up is a classic whodunit story told in a zoo. (And Agent Poop is on the case.) I’m not a big fan of the mystery genre for any age, so I’m not the intended audience, but I felt the formula was implemented well. The reveal was not surprising (I actually called it very early in the book) and the reason wasn’t entirely organic to the plot, but neither of these flaws kept the chase from being a fun ride. The characters were engaging. And there are animals, of course. This novel certainly succeeds as an entertaining mystery for children, especially those who laugh at poop.

For those with objections to strong language, please note that this book uses language that may seem misplaced in a children’s book. These include multiple utterances of words such as bastard, ass, hell, and damn. Yeah, I’ve heard worse in a PG movie, but I still thought someone might want to know. show less

Poor, poor Teddy, always in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is also compounded by the fact that he always SAYS the wrong things. (Pretty much a thought to mouth process, no filtering.) When Henry the Hippo, the Mickey Mouse comparative to the fictional Fun Jungle in Belly Up, goes literally belly up, Teddy gets himself right in the middle of things. Yes, this means ALL things, including Henry's innards. Along the way he helps prod the 'whodunnit' mystery along with funny quips and quick witted responses that any child (or adult for that matter) can't help but giggle at. A great read for reluctant readers!

Belly up is a fun read from beginning to the end. That it is set in the good ole state of Texas makes it even more enticing and off course everything is bigger in Texas and that applies to the zoos and animals too! Yes, there are a lot of references to poop but it's all in good....er well....spirits! This is a definitely not a story that is all hat and no cattle and come hell or high water I betcha that you will read it right thru to the end! Makes for great reading with your kids and adults will find it enjoyable also. Just avoid reading during mealtimes. Fixin to read the other books in the series so y'all better git right on the stagecoach and start readin.

This book didn’t grab me as quickly as [b: Space Case|1113919|Space Case|Edward Marshall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348626200s/1113919.jpg|1100915] did. I’m not really a zoo person. The whole FunJungle thing is a little far-fetched. No one travels to the middle of nowhere to look at animals. Do they? Who would deliberately kill a hippo? It took me awhile to get on board. But I’m happy to say that once the sleuthing began, I was full speed ahead.

This one is about Teddy and the world famous FunJungle amusment park. His mom is a park zoologist. Teddy is the only kid living on the grounds. He has a boring existence, so he spices things up by using the animals to pull pranks. Just as Large Marge catches him, there’s a code show more red at the hippo exhibit. The zoo’s mascot has gone belly up. And the mystery begins.

Teddy sneaks into the autopsy and overhears Doc say that Henry’s death was intentional. This puts Teddy into investigative mode. He gets a message to the zoo owner’s daughter, Summer, and together they begin investigating on their own. When Teddy is almost killed twice, it’s clear that someone is trying to stop him from finding the truth. Everyone hated Henry, so finding the murderer isn't a shut case.

As in [b: Space Case|1113919|Space Case|Edward Marshall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348626200s/1113919.jpg|1100915], Gibbs does a great job of introducing all the possible suspects, then misleading you just enough to keep you guessing. For the younger boys there’s even some hippo poop and spewing corpse guts to keep things gross. show less

I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. I couldn't resist the humorous description and the fun cover. Overall it was an enjoyable read and lots of fun!

Teddy lives in FunJungle Park with his mom, who researches apes, and his dad, who is a wildlife photographer. It's kind of crazy living in a zoo/theme park but things get even crazier when the unpleasant park mascot Henry the Hippo is found belly up in his habitat. Teddy sneaks into Henry's autopsy and overhears the fact that Henry's death may not have been an accident but instead...murder. Now Teddy, with the help of the park owner's ultra-rich daughter, Summer, are trying to unravel the mystery as to why Henry, and other animals in the park, are being killed. As Teddy show more gets deeper into the mystery he will find that he better watch his step because who ever killed Henry is after Teddy too.

This book was an interesting and fun read. The plot moves along nicely and the mystery Teddy is trying to solve has some interesting twists to it. This book deals with some serious issues such as corporate greed and animal cruelty, but it deals with these issues in such a way that they never become too overwhelming or overly serious. I enjoyed Teddy as a character; both him and his parents have very interesting backgrounds that were interesting to learn about.

You learn a lot about how a zoo is run in this book, it is also a good introduction to what happens when individuals in a corporation get too greedy. It is a very engaging story and a page turner, very hard to put down. I also liked that Teddy had a great relationship with his parents. This would be an appropriate book for kids in the middle grade or older range, I think adults would enjoy it too. As I said the book has a great sense of humor and makes for a fun read.

The story ends well wrapping up most of the loose ends, there were a couple small issues that weren't resolved and this left me wondering if we will read any more books about Teddy and Summer. It reminded me a bit of Carl Hiassen's book Hoot, so if you liked Hoot you should get a kick out of this book too.

Overall an entertaining read. A good sense of humor with a fast-paced plot and a great mystery. Should appeal to animal lovers and mystery buffs. show less

Belly Up is the first in a fun, light hearted mystery series that takes place in a huge, amazing zoo in Texas. Nobody really likes Henry, the gigantic, cranky hippo with some very unpleasant habits, but it’s a huge problem when he turns up dead one day because he is the famous zoo’s mascot. Teddy basically lives on the grounds of the zoo because both of his parents work there, and he thinks there’s something more to Henry’s death than the officials are saying. As Teddy starts to investigate, he starts having some strange accidents. Is someone trying to scare him away from investigating?