Curation of Children's Literature – Anti-bullying Books to
encourage empathy, compassion, acceptance, kindness, self-awareness, and
courage
Less than 2 weeks away is
Pink Shirt Day on February
22nd, which is a day to stand up collectively against bullying by wearing pink
after a male student was bullied in Nova Scotia for wearing pink.
Therefore, I wanted to create a
curation of children’s literature books that will help focus on discussion and
solutions around the topic of bullying so that no one (child or adult) will
feel hopelessness, isolation, or despair.
No one should be harassed or ostracized verbally,
physically, emotionally, or through social media regardless of their gender,
race, religion, social economics, or appearance. Everyone deserves to live in peace and with dignity. If we
start the discussion with children at an early age about respect,
inclusiveness, and acceptance then perhaps it will resonate and help themselves
and others against bullying or becoming bullies. These ideals will help them grow up to be empathetic and
compassionate adults that will have the strength to stand up for what is right and
help those that are wronged or in need.
The choice of books are intended to create a dialogue in
the classroom so that students become aware of what bullying entails; identify
the intent of a bully; and recognize the effects of bullying. Also, the choice of literature
will help the students to develop strategies, skills, and solutions to deal
with bullying in a safe/healthy manner; feel empowerment to stand up for
themselves and others; be proud of who they are; increase their self esteem and
self worth; express their feelings about bullying; and empathize with those
being bullied as well as the bully.
Indeed, the students will
recognize that a little kindness goes a long way; friendship is better than fighting;
and words and labels can hurt.
Since I taught elementary school and my youngest son is
in Grade 4, the books that I have chosen will be focused at that grade level. I chose a variety of books such that
students can read independently, the students can read in pairs, or the teacher
can read aloud. I also tried to choose
a variety of books with varying reading levels, characters, settings, genders, themes,
ages, ethnic backgrounds, writing styles, illustrations, and scenario/situation. By trying to have a diversity of books,
students can perhaps find some that relate to them. This connection with the books will provide a deeper conversation
and understanding. Also, the
diverse literature will help to build knowledge, critical thinking, and literacy skills.
This book is about a new student, Unhei, from Korea who
wanted to change her name because other children on the bus had difficulty
pronouncing her name and laughed about it. But when she
explained the meaning of her name at school, she was no longer teased.
This book touches on the fact that it is okay to be oneself,
everyone’s name is special, and one should be proud of his/her ethnicity and
heritage. It encourages a good
discussion about how making fun of someone’s name can affect his/her self-esteem.
This is a book about a girl with big beautiful head of
curls who loved to enjoy her food in unconventional ways, which caused her to
be mocked at school. But in the
end, she saved the bully off the playground and they become friends.
This book talks about acceptance and embracing uniqueness. It is good to like who you are and not
have to change your appearance or eating habits so that you can be like
everyone else.
This book is about these
imaginary Sneetches who separated themselves as the haves and have not’s based upon
the stars on their stomachs. Instead
of changing themselves constantly to be different from each other, they
realized in the end that it was better to be together than divided.
This book touches on segregation
and discrimination based upon appearance.
It highlights how much power a group can have over another if they think
they are more superior so there is a need for equality and acceptance in order
for peace.
They’re also a short cartoon
video on this book that might appeal to more visual and audio learners.
Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl with no
friends, was from a poor neighbourhood.
She got taunted and shamed because Wanda claimed that she had a hundred
dresses at her house even though she wore the same blue dress everyday to school. In the end, her tormentors realized their
mistakes and Wanda’s talent but it was too late. Wanda and her family had moved away from small town to a larger
city where there were more immigrants.
Even though this chapter book is a Newbery
Honor book in 1945, it still is a great classroom discussion about the themes
of bullying, racism, poverty, and exclusion that are still prevalent today.
This book is about a blue crayon that had a red label
around him. When he couldn’t
colour in red, everyone thought something was wrong with him since he didn’t
match his label. But when he
started to make beautiful blue water and skies then he got accepted.
This book discusses about not letting labels define you
or affect your self worth. It also
talks about not rushing to judgment just because of a preconceived notion of a
label. What is on the inside is
more important than what is on the outside.
Chrysanthemum, a mouse, is teased at school because her name is considered too
long. Even though initially she was confident and happy, the
bullying made her feel sad and have a dislike for her name. But with the help of a teacher that
sees the beauty in her name, Chrysanthemum feels proud about her unique and original name again.
This book is an American Library Association notable book
and is another good book that talks about respecting everyone’s name and being
proud of the name that one is given.
It is also good for discussion about how demeaning someone’s name can
cause someone a lot of distress.
The illustrations are very visual and poignant as the
invisible boy, Brian, who no one seems to notice or plays with becomes more
colourful as he is included in school activities when a new student arrives and
wants to be his friend.
This book shows how being ignored, excluded, and isolated
can affects someone’s self esteem and self-worth. A little bit of friendship, kindness and inclusion can go a
long way.
Other anti-bullying books written by Trudy Ludwig that I like
and would use are:
Ludwig, Trudy.
Just Kidding. Tricycle Press, 2006 – This book is
would be good to discuss about the difference between joking, teasing, and
bullying as well as peer pressure and tattle-tailing.
Ludwig, Trudy. MySecret Bully. Dragonfly Books,
2015 – This book talks about how friendships can change. It also focuses on how some friends
aren’t really your friends.
This book is about a Muslim boy named Bilal who wanted to
hide his identity and change his name to Bill, after seeing his sister been
bullied by boys trying to remove her hijab. But though learning about the importance of his name and
faith through a teacher, he was able to find the courage to standup against those bothering his sister and be proud of his culture.
This book focuses on being proud of your heritage,
religion, and name. It also focuses
on defending against prejudice and intolerance of cultural and religious
differences. It is more important
to talk about your identity than to hide who you are.
9. Munson, Derek.
Enemy Pie. Chronicle Books, 2000
This book is a boy who doesn’t like his new neighbour,
Jeremy, because Jeremy laughed at him and didn’t invite him to his house for a play
date. Thus, the narrator put Jeremy
on his enemy list and confided in his dad for help. His dad mentioned creating a secret recipe called enemy pie
but before the pie could work he had to be play nicely with his enemy for the whole
day.
This is a light hearted book that discuss that if you talk
to and play with your enemy, you can find out that you have more similarities
than difference. Perhaps, a new
friendship can form when you spend time together and the unkindness will stop.
This book is a rhyming book about a girl named “Mean Jean”
who pushed everyone at the playground until the new girl stood up to her and became
her friend. Jean was having too
much fun with her new friend to bully the other kids around.
This book encourages the students to speak up against
bullying and recognize that bossiness can be bullying. It is also a good discussion about
bullying in different places and why it might occur outside of the
classroom.
11. Otoshi, Kathryn. One. KO
Kids Books, 2008
A simple yet cleverly written book about a crayon
bullying other crayons until One showed up and decided to stand up against the
bully by saying “no”. The words
“Everyone Counts” and “Sometimes it just takes one” are great phrases from the
book.
This book focuses on the courage to stand up against bullying,
which in turns encourages others to stand up together against bullying. It also focuses on inclusion of the
bully versus exclusion.
12. Palacio, R.J.
Wonder. Knopf Books, 2012
This book is about a boy named, August, who attended
school for first time in Grade 5 since he had a facial difference that required
many surgeries. Most of the
students except for a few were afraid to look at his face and called him
names. In the end, his classmates
realized their ignorance when they witnessed August been physically harassed by
strangers.
This book is a New York Time Best Seller Book and would
be a good read aloud by the teacher or read by a strong reader. This book has many different points of
view of his support system as well as those that weren’t. It is also a good book to inspire
empathy, compassion, and kindness and how not to react to fear,
uncomfortableness, and differences with cruelty. It brings on a good discuss about how the students would
react if someone’s physical appearance was drastically different from theirs.
13. Polacco, Patricia.
Bully. Putnam’s
Sons Books for Young Readers, 2012
This book is about school cliques. It focuses on those who are in the popular
group bullying verbally and through social media those that they consider less
popular. A new girl, Lyla, to the
school became part of the “cool” group but she decided to standup against the
bullying of her “uncool” friend and found herself being bullied as well.
This book brings up discussion about safety on the Internet
and cyber bullying on social media and electronic devices. This book also allows for a
conversation around the influence of peer pressure, group mentality, and
labels.
Patricia Polacco is quite a prolific
writer and illustrator that has been given many awards. Here are her thoughts on being bullied
and about bullying:
This book is about a Native American girl
whose classmates teased her about where she lives. Her grandfather helped her
appreciate her ancestry and home by telling Seneca creation story.
This book focuses on being proud of your
heritage and your home. It can be
related to the myths and legends of First Nations as well as racial
injustices. It is a good
discussion about being true to you and keeping a strong identity of self no
matter what other people might say.
It also touches on social economics, turning the name calling into
something that is positive, and tolerance.
This book is about a new student, Pete, who started to
bully other students so that he wouldn’t be bullied as in his previous
school. The students took a pledge
and stood up for Pete despite his mean actions and words.
This book focuses on not being a bystander and to speak
up. It also discusses standing up for each other or asking an adult for help when someone (including bully) is being
bullied. It looks into why a bully might be unkind and having empathy
for him or her. Also, the pledge
that is used in this book can be used for other classrooms or the classes can
write their own pledges.
16. Woodson, Jacqueline. Each Kindness. Penguin Young Readers Book, 2012
This book is about a girl named Maya who no one wanted to
play with. But by the time the bullies
realized the teacher’s message of kindness is always better, Maya had already
moved to another school.
This book talks about lost opportunity and that to be kind
is so much better than been mean. There
can be classroom discussions around the fact that kindness opens the doors to more
opportunities and friendships.
This book is also a winner of the Coretta Scott King Honor and Jane Addams
Peace Award.
References:
Choi, Yangsook. The Name Jar. Dragonfly Books, 2003
Dismondy, Maria. Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage To Be Who You Are. Cardinal Rule Press, 2008
Dr. Seuss. The Snitches and Other Stories. Random House Books for Young Readers, 1961
Estes, Eleanor. The Hundred Dresses. Philomel Books, 2012
Hall, Michael. Red: A Crayon’s Story, 2015
Henkes, Kevin. Chrysanthemum. Greenwillow Books, 2008
Ludwig, Trudy. Just Kidding. Tricycle Press, 2006
Ludwig, Trudy. My Secret Bully. Dragonfly Books, 2015
Ludwig, Trudy. The Invisible Boy. Knopf Books, 2013
Mobin-Uddin, Asma. My Name is Bilal. Boyds Mills Press, 2005
Munson, Derek. Enemy Pie. Chronicle Books, 2000
O’Neill, Alexis. The Recess Queen. Scholastic Press, 2005
Otoshi, Kathryn. One. KO Kids Books, 2008
Palacio, R.J. Wonder. Knopf Books, 2012
Polacco, Patricia. Bully. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2012
Savageau, Cheryl. Muskrat Will Be Swimming. Cheryl Savageau. Tilbury House Publishers, 2006
Sornson, Bob. The Juice Box Bully: Empowering Kids to Stand Up for Others. Early Learning Foundation, 2010
