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The store links use this book's US print edition, ISBN 9781416987321.
Where Belly Up sits
- Series
- Book 1 of FunJungle. See all FunJungle books in order
- The book before
- None. This is where the series starts.
- The book after
- Poached
- Order checked
- Last checked: September 24, 2026, against simonandschuster.com
What Belly Up is about
The setup only, with no spoilers. Each line names the record it rests on.
- The story is set at a popular zoo in Texas, and its main character, Teddy, is twelve. (Library of Congress; read November 6, 2026)
Twelve-year-old Teddy ... a popular Texas zoo's star attraction
- When Henry the hippo, the zoo's biggest draw, is killed, Teddy sets out to learn what happened. (Library of Congress; read November 6, 2026)
investigates when a popular Texas zoo's star attraction--Henry the hippopotamus--is murdered
The story behind Belly Up
- As a biology student in college, Gibbs worked on a study at the Philadelphia Zoo and heard the keepers' stories from behind the scenes. (stuartgibbs.com; read November 6, 2026)
I studied biology and ended up doing a project at the Philadelphia Zoo ... behind-the-scenes-at-the-zoo stories
- Before Belly Up was a book, he had sold a zoo story as a film and as a TV series, and neither one was made. (stuartgibbs.com; read November 6, 2026)
sold a story set at a zoo as a movie and as a TV show
- When he was offered a middle grade novel, he saw his chance to tell that zoo story at last. (stuartgibbs.com; read November 6, 2026)
this was finally the perfect opportunity to tell a story set at a zoo
Topics in this book
A linked topic opens its page on bookslike.app, with every book on the site that shares it.
Topics
- Mystery and detective stories
- Zoo animals
- Zoos
Reading ages
- Children's
Other books in FunJungle
10 books listed so far
- Book 2: Poached
- Book 3: Big Game
- Book 4: Panda-monium
- Book 5: Lion Down
- Book 6: Tyrannosaurus Wrecks
- Book 7: Bear Bottom
- Book 8: Whale Done
- Book 9: All Ears
- Book 10: Ape Escape
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