Bully - Hardcover

Among Laura Vaccaro Seeger's many distinctive books for children are First the Egg, a Caldecott Honor Book and Geisel Honor Book; One Boy, a Geisel Honor Book; Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; and Green, recipient of five starred reviews. Laura lives on Long Island with her husband, Chris, their two sons, Drew and Dylan, and their dog, Copper.

PreS-Gr 2-On the cover, bold black lines on an angry tomato-red background depict the scowling title character. Seeger sets the emotional tone from the very start: this is one mean bull. Front endpapers offer a clue to his behavior as readers see a larger, adult bull shout, "Go away!" The rejected little guy hangs his head, and, as many real-life bullies do, turns his hurt into anger. When he comes upon a group of animals who want to play, he puffs himself up in a near-identical pose to his adult counterpart and shouts, "No!" He proceeds to insult them with literal names ("CHICKEN!" "PIG!") that lend a bit of levity and humor to an otherwise serious story. With each insult, the bull's bravado makes him larger and larger, filling and then expanding outside the frame of the pages. Children will recognize and respond to this powerful visual depiction of rage. By the time he yells "YOU STINK!" at the skunk, only his two giant front hooves and enormous snout are visible. When the bull is finally forced to confront what he has become, viewers see him deflate like an overinflated balloon and become small. Again, Seeger lightens the mood with this touch of cartoon whimsy. Spare text and simple drawings allow the antibullying message to come across clearly without being heavy-handed or didactic. The arc of the bull's experience engenders discussion and encourages the quest for satisfying solutions.-Kiera Parrott, Darien Library, CTα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.