12 Books About Bullying

This is one of the best books about bullying I ever seen. This topic is so important and I think we need more books like this.

About a girl who is getting bullied by two other girls at school. The two girls won’t stop and Mariah is repeatedly getting into physical altercations with them. She tells them to stop and of course they don’t so she finally talks to her mother about it, then her teacher. After it continues mom goes to the principal and even when the bullies are suspended from school they continue the harassment. Mariah moves schools but that doesn’t stop them so eventually Mariah is left with no choice and stands up for herself. The bullies attack her and she fights back and forces the other girls to agree to stop acting like this and leave everyone alone.

I love the illustrations they’re very professional and the scenarios within the story are very realistic. The author did an excellent job of demonstrating the proper way to address bullying. Beginning with telling them to stop, then involving parents and school staff, and eventually as a last resort physically defending yourself. Bullying is such a serious issue, it can leave people with emotional issues for the rest of their life and learning how to deal with bullies can really prevent a lot of trouble. Standing up for yourself is so important and although violence should always be a last resort, sometimes it’s the only way to stop them. Bullying is such a hard thing to prevent and there’s no easy answer to preventing it. For most people it’s a part of growing up, we’ve all dealt with a bully at some point in our life and that’s why, as parents and educators we need books like this. Along with the right resources, careful observation and proper education we can protect our children.

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The Llama Llama books are always good, this one is about bullying. I’ve always said this is a topic that needs more attention so I’m happy to see Llama Llama in this one.

This goat at school is grumpy and mean to the other students. He kicks sand at them, calls them names and pushes them around. Fortunately Llama Llama does the right thing and stands up to the bully goat. The other students won’t stand for it and all tell the goat to stop and go to the teacher about it. Gilroy Goat gets a time out and the teacher has few words with him and Gilroy stood being mean.

I like the scenario in this and the illustrations really make the story easy to understand. This demonstrates to kids exactly what to do when other kids are being mean. It’s written in rhyme and is best as a read aloud, definitely a good one for classrooms.

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This is a silly story that adults and kids will both enjoy. The poor Giraffe keeps getting sat on by all the animals in the jungle... they keep using him for a chair! This book is easy to follow and makes a great point about the importance of standing up for yourself.

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Mean Jean is the recess queen!! Mean Jean is not to messed with and everyone knows it. Once a new girl arrives they become friends and recess dynamics quickly change for the better. This book is ideal for addressing conflict resolution and demonstrating how bullying can sometimes be resolved without adult intervention.

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What a gorgeous book! The illustrations were the first thing that really caught my attention then after reading the story I knew I had to read this with my students.

Features a young girl who’s afraid of the dark. Her grandmother has a chat with her about the importance of facing her fears. While there grandma decides it’s time to let her in on a little secret about a magical secret door that exists in her room and then gives her the key to take care of. It’s not long before a little fairy visits in the night and explains how the key works and how to enter this tiny little world. Curious she decides to enter the little doorway and see what’s on the other side. While there she makes some friends and encounters the one they call “The Meanie”. She sees the fear in all her friends and decides it’s time for them to face their fears. When “The Meanie” came back angry and threatening they stood up and told her they aren’t afraid of her and offered her their friendship instead. This change of attitude worked and “The Meanie” stopped being so mean. At that point the girl realized that after teaching them to be brave there was no reason or her to be afraid of the dark either.

I love the message about being brave and there are some great words of wisdom sprinkled across this story. In the hands of the right parent or teacher this can be a very useful book to help children deal with fear and have more emotional awareness.

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Another powerful book by Michael A. Brown! I love this author, all of his books are great. He’s released a series of empowering books that all focus on enormously important issues like self esteem or bullying etc. If you haven’t discovered his work I highly recommend checking it out.

This book features a boy named Malik who does very well in school but has to deal with a lot of bullying. He runs away from a bully and seeks refuge in his friend’s house near by. He and the new kid in school meet the other kids in the house. These kids like to go there because they feel safe and are able to be open about the problems they face in life. As they meet the new kid they all share with him how they have to deal with various forms of abuse and how they’re always there for each other. Just then, the bully arrives at the door ... after talking to the bully he confesses why he’s mean to Malik. He suffers abuse at home and doesn’t do well in school and is jealous that Malik is so smart. With no support network at school or at home, all he knows is to lash out with negativity. Realizing that the bully is in pain and needs help, the children accept him into their group and offer him help with his studies and the support network he so desperately needs.

I think these kind of books are enormously important to have in classrooms. This one is easy for children to understand and can be a powerful resource in the hands of the right adult. I highly recommend it and the rest of the books by this author, I’m more than excited to add this to my Children’s Bookshelf!

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This is a wonderful book and am so happy to see books like this out there. I think it can offer a great deal of comfort to children that are feeling like they don’t necessarily fit in with everyone else and have to face some bullying at school about it. I jump at any opportunity to read books to my students about acceptance and celebrating the fact that we are all different and are all unique in our own way. A lot of time bullying stems from ignorance and when someone looks or acts different kids can zero in on them, but I think exposure to books like this and actively teaching them social awareness and respecting people for who they are early on can really make all the difference.

This book is about a kid named Toby who likes to wear all kinds of clothes and do all kinds of things that are sometimes considered more for boys or girls. Sometimes Toby feels more like a boy and other times more like a girl and that’s totally ok because that’s who Toby is. He faces some teasing from his classmates because they don’t understand him but after talking with his mom and confidently declaring that there’s nothing wrong with being Toby the other children are cool about it and welcome him to play with them.

It’s a great book about just being yourself and I think the world needs more books like this! Super happy to include this on my Children’s Bookshelf.

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About a boy named Charlie who tries to be nice to a new student at school. The other boy reacts rudely and turns out to be a bully. Frustrated by the bullying the Charlie talks with his parents about the situation and his father encourages him to forgive the bully and to treat him with kindness. It’s not easy but he decides his father is right. Eventually Charlie tells the bully he’s had enough and talks it out with him. The bully opens up about why he acts the way he does and apologizes. He agrees to change his ways and is grateful to have Charlie as a new friend.

I’ve always loved the “kill em with kindness” approach when it comes to bullying or rude people. I think this is an excellent example of positive conflict resolution and definitely a great addition to any classroom bookshelf.

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Good book to read with second and third graders. This one really demonstrates how important it is for everyone to stop bullying. Even if it’s not happening to you, standing there and watching it happen only helps the bully. This shows how a group of people can easily de-escalate a situation and that fairness and compassion for everyone including the bully is the best way to stop it.

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The Hundred Dresses won a Newbery Honor in 1945 and is still selling. It's about a girl who is ridiculed by bullies for wearing the same dress to school every day. She claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t. One day Wanda is pulled out of school and the class feels really bad for her. Especially one of her classmates who decides that she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again." This book can be very powerful in the hands of the right adult, it offers an interesting look at bullying and empathy.

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This one was recommended by a work colleague and I had to share it! What an excellent perspective and one you don’t see in many books. It’s actually a very realistic scenario and a lesson many learn the wrong way. Opens the conversation about friendship, peer pressure, loyalty, forgiveness, bullying and popularity.

About two life long best friends, Paula the woodchuck is pressured by the popular girls to hangout with them and not the big clumsy elephant Maggie. Despite their long standing friendship Maggie’s best friend Paula decides to go with the cool kids and ignore her. The popular kids begin to make Paula think Maggie is clumsy and uncool. It isn’t long before the popular girls turn on her though. They start to make fun of Paula’s big teeth in front of everyone. Maggie stands up in defense of Paula despite the fact she had been snubbed by the woodchuck previously. This really made Paula realize who her true friends were and that she had not been a loyal friend. In that moment Paula decides that true friendship is far more important than popularity and realizes the importance of being a good friend and being loyal.

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A book about self esteem and being a racial minority. This is an important book for every child to read, it clearly shows the feelings a lot children have when they’re one of the only black kids around. Kids can sometimes be especially harsh and not even realize the damage they’re causing by behaving ignorantly.

The boy in this book goes to the park and sees his friends but is told by the new kid that he can’t play with them because he looks different. After mom gives him some words of wisdom he stands up for himself and points out that in fact we all look different and that’s okay. He then goes on to play with his friends confidently and feeling like he likes the way he looks and there’s nothing wrong with him.

Great message, definitely has the potential to resonate with children in similar situations. Also I think it’s important for all the other children to read this book and books like it so they can see things from a different perspective.

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