Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Incredible Shrinking Bully Book Review


Have you ever had a bully bother you in school? Has any of your children? A friend, relative? If so, this story was written for all of you!
This is a big problem, around the world, especially in our own country, and in your child's school. We have had our fair share of bully incidences, with Aaron, our 8 year old, and even though the situation was stopped in it's tracks, it was still a nightmare.
We recently had the pleasure of reviewing a story, Holy Cannoli! Chick-E Gets A Job, by Mona Schmitt, and we giggled like crazy at that wonderful book! This story is written by the same author, and again, teaches a very valuable lesson! We have all become big time Mona Schmitt fans and I was especially thrilled to receive a coupon code for this story, in exchange for a review.
This story really hit home, as I am pretty sure it will for several of you. The illustrations are very cute, and drawn with such emotion, the pictures can tell the story to your little ones! Genevive and Deegan, of course are to young to read, but they love to hear stories and they were especially fascinated with the pictures in this book. Aaron, of course, thought they were funny;)
This story starts out introducing you to Bart and Frank. Frank is the enormous, mean, name calling, bully, and Bart is, well, "Bart the fart".
When Frank calls the other kids names, and picks on them, he grows bigger, and the other children, shrink. (I thought this was a brilliant way to get the point across, and later of course, gets much better!!)
The part when Bart's friend, Kelly, gets picked on, is a key part in this book. Bart sees Frank being mean to her, and she shrinks. So, Bart gives her compliments, and Kelly starts to get bigger!
It 's easy to get a little bit emotional during this story, especially if you have had similar situations happen to your own children. But the sad part doesn't last long! Bart starts to think about how he can put an end to this bully, and the constant name calling and picking on his friends and classmates, one night, and tries to come up with a plan.
The cool part? Bart doesn't have to "hit back". he comes up with a better plan!
Bart ends up becoming a "hero" and saving his friends and himself from this mean bully! He stands up for himself and yells back and as he stands up for himself and defends his friends, Frank starts to shrink, and Bart gets bigger!
Aaron was ecstatically happy with the outcome of this story, and it taught my children that you can stand up for yourself, like Bart, and you can do it without violence.
This story is written very well, it covers all the emotions that go through your head when you are bullied, and is very easy for children to relate too.
We like Mona's writing style, and the values that are taught through her stories. Courage is a very important lesson to teach and she does this exceptionally well through a very cool, and yet somewhat simple book, that is easy for kids to understand and learn from.
Aaron will be reading this to his classmates, and I am certain they will love it. It explains, teaches, instills, one of the key elements of being a good person, a child growing up, and it is cool, all at the same time.
Mona also has some talking points at the end of this book for you and your children, and these are a perfect addition!
This is one of those stories that I believe will end up being a long time favorite for many years to come. Teachers, Home schoolers, parents, grandparents, Librarians, should all have a copy of this book to share with the children in their lives.
We all recommend this story for all ages! Especially kids!!
Please let us know what you think! Have you had a problem with bullies? What did you do to put an end to it?
You can view a sample of this book here, or make a purchase, and read it immediately!

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1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the wonderful review i think this would be a great read for the grandkids !

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