bookarian's review against another edition
3.0
"the bully is a ""bull"" in the animal classroom, pretty good book on bullying"
wordnerd153's review against another edition
3.0
The main problem is solved a little too easily, but this story is a good way to talk to young children about bullying.
clwilliams321's review against another edition
3.0
Decent treatment of bullying, but oversimplified/easily resolved. Nice that it showed bully feeling badly. Wish they would have shown bully's mom talking to him.
keu482's review against another edition
1.0
Gag. A sappy sweet, overly simple look at bullying. I would almost guarantee that the writer was never bullied as a child. All the adults work together to make things better for the child, instantly seeing that something is wrong and doing something about it. The bully is just misunderstood and not a junior psychopath or and abuse victim at home or anything. Yes, I get that this is a kids book but it's a kids book that is supposed to teach a lesson to victims and it does so badly. I hate this book, sorry.
(Yes, I and my siblings were bullied as children. There are no easy answers to this problem)
(Yes, I and my siblings were bullied as children. There are no easy answers to this problem)
nightxade's review
5.0
This book is typically bright and colourful and interesting for children, dealing with the hot topic of bullying and how it affects the victim. What I appreciated most about this book is that it also dealt with how the bully feels, too, which is something I think is overlooked in this topic. I do not condone the actions of a bully, but I believe that merely punishing and alienating them serves no purpose but to make them worse. What makes them a bully? How can the cycle be broken?
In this book, once Tommy, the bully in question, is punished for his actions and Lucy no longer fears him, she starts to notice how sad and lonely he is and approaches him. In the end, he apologizes, and she forgives him.
While the book didn't specify why Tommy was mean to Lucy, the girls and I were able to go back through it, discuss and infer possible reasons. In fact, this book inspired a lot of discussion about bullying, without feeling too contrived or preachy.
In this book, once Tommy, the bully in question, is punished for his actions and Lucy no longer fears him, she starts to notice how sad and lonely he is and approaches him. In the end, he apologizes, and she forgives him.
While the book didn't specify why Tommy was mean to Lucy, the girls and I were able to go back through it, discuss and infer possible reasons. In fact, this book inspired a lot of discussion about bullying, without feeling too contrived or preachy.
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