The Boy With Two Belly Buttons
I first became a published writer at age 11, when a poem that I wrote for school (“The Possum”) appeared in Highlights magazine. While I have since written about thieves, terrorists, and even economists, I guess it is fitting that I have finally written a children’s book.
It’s called The Boy With Two Belly Buttons, with illustrations by the remarkable Christoph Niemann, and it goes on sale today.
![Dubner Belly Button Cover](http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/posts/bellybuttoncover2Web.jpg)
It’s a picture book, roughly for kids ages four to eight, and it begins like this:
Solomon never thought it was strange that he had two belly buttons until he got a baby sister. Anya had only one.
Observant readers of this blog may note that Solomon and Anya are the names of my real kids. I plead guilty to anything that anyone wants to charge me with, but I was not about to write a kids’ book and leave my kids out of it. Anyway: I really love how the book turned out — Christoph’s illustrations are really fantastic — and I hope other people love it too. Here is Solomon at the swimming pool, trying to see if he really is the only person in the world with two belly buttons:
![Dubner Belly Button 1](http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/posts/bellybutton1Web.jpg)
After a long and frustrating journey during which he realizes that he is the only person in the world with two belly buttons, Solomon has a chance encounter with “a very famous movie director,” and his perspective finally changes for the better.
![Dubner Belly Button 2](http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/posts/bellybutton2Web.jpg)
If you happen to live in New York (and have kids), feel free to stop by one of my upcoming readings:
Sat., Sept. 29, at Books of Wonder.
Sat., Oct. 13, at a Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side.
I will have another announcement or two to post later, and I will also give away some signed books. For now, let me just say this: I feel like a kid again.
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