Lucy And The Bully

by Claire Alexander

Lucy loves everything about nursery - except for Tommy, who is a big bully. He stamps on Lucy's sculpture and breaks her pencils. He warns her not to tell - or else! But with a bit of help from Lucy's mum, Tommy is ready to turn over a new leaf.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, School, Animals, Storytime, Friendship, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

Claire was born in Bath, Wiltshire and moved to Kent when she was six. she has always loved drawing from an early age and remembers being asked by her school mates to draw rabbits for them! After school she studied Fine Art at the Kent Institute of Art and Design in Canterbury where she achieved a BA degree in Painting. She moved to London in 1995 and stumbled through many different jobs until she studied children's illustration at Putney School of Art. Here Claire produced her first dummy book for Small Florence, which was then published and started her dream career as an author illustrator.

In 2007 Claire wrote her own course on writing and illustrating picture books which she has been teaching ever since, and now at the House of Illustration. She regularly visits schools and enjoys drawing for children.

Claire's new title 'The Best Bit of Daddy's Day' will be published in June 2016.

'Monkey and the Little One' was shortlisted for the 2015 Junior Design Awards and listed as one of the top ten best new picture books during Independent Book Sellers Week 2015.

'Back to Front and Upside Down' won the 2013 Schneider Family Book Award from the American Libraries Associataion. The award honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

'Lucy and the Bully' won the 2009 Paterson Prize for Young People and 'Small Florence' was short listed for the 2010 Mad About Books Stockport Schools' Book Award.

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Rebecca Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, the only thing I did not like is that it's a little unrealistic. I would still use this book in my classroom to discuss bullying. I would ask my students and make a chart about what the main characters did right and wrong. I would have them discuss what they should do if someone is bullying them and how they should treat other people.

[Cindy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Janki Mody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get that Picture Books are a certain length, but I needed the resolution to be a bit more drawn out. Essentially, I am kind of tired of the kids who are being bullied in these stories to end up friends with their bully. If I gave this advice to an adult, it would be bad advice, urging someone to befriend their abuser. The transition at the end of the book was smooth but I wouldn't want my child to be laughing and sharing art with their bully the following day.

All the stuff showing Lucy's experience while being bullied was really nice, though.

[Kimikimi · Rating 1 out of 5]

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)

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute illustrations and sweet main character help this book on bullying, despite its extremely didactic treatment. Useful book to help kids understand and counter bullies in their classroom. Part of a series.

[Cosette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't completely agree with this book - but emmers loves it

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy has a rough time at school because she is being bullied by Tommy the cow who is just plain mean. He seems to ruin everything Lucy works on or tries to do. For a while, Lucy hides the fact that she is being bullied but finally explains what is going on to her mom. Once Lucy realizes she has more power to resist and deal with the bully than she originally knew, she can move forward. She even finds a way to include her bully in some activities. Highly recommend it for classrooms to hear and discuss. There is an important page at the beginning of the book that explains what bullying is and how to help students work it out. Highly recommended for Grades K-3

[Ellon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book to talk about bullying with 2nd graders. They had a lot of background knowledge but this book served as a great jumping off point for our discussion. At first, I didn't really like how the bully seems to 'get away' with this but after hearing some of my students comments ("my dad told me that lots of the time a bully is lonely and they think they won't be lonely anymore if they make someone else lonely") and another user's comment about the inclusion of the bully's feelings made me change my mind a bit. A nice book to create a good discussion with school aged children.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simplified look at bullying, but one that still offers some unique points. The simple resolution might make it better suited for a younger crowd, but it's still a solid read. What I liked about this one was how the adults got involved too, and a bit more of how the bully felt. A good one to start talking about bullying and getting along with others and relating to what someone else might be feeling or thinking.

I loved the illustrations. Very expressive little faces. I think that's what bumped it up from 3+ to 4.

[Kelsey Doll · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Teaches kids that bullies aren’t only mean, that they could also be sad. Library got book in 2009, so it’s kind of dated (like the fact that the teacher seemingly does nothing to stop bullying; also, the bully is a brown cow, while the victim is a white sheep…and the bully is the only brown animal in the book. While there are other white animals. Seems a little bit racist to me). So that was a let down, I’ll need to read more books like this to find a better recommendation.

[Maria Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The story was something the children in class can all relate to. Not everyone is bullied but unfortunately a large amount is. This book will allow children to see that it is okay to tell a grown up when someone is being mean. Also, it will help the children see it is not appropriate and if they see something similar they should as well inform an adult.

[Kary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually used the code in the book on the AV2 website and had it read to me. A very cool feature, but I don't think that kids would realize this feature is available without help. Maybe I can do a display of all the books in our collection that have this available and post with the instructions. Or include in a listening center.

[David Smither · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great story about solving conflict and understanding bullies a bit better. It also demonstrates the most inept teacher in existence. Suitable for all elementary grades with bullying problems.
Unique feature: We see a bit of the bully's side (Mother is yelling at him)
Genre: Realistic Fiction (Real genre: Elementary Ethics/Morality)

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucy has trouble with Tommy, who bullies her at school relentlessly. Her mother notices the change in Lucy, and once she finds out she calls the school to let the teacher know what is occurring. The teacher in turn call Tommy's mother, and the issues are resolved, and Lucy and Tommy become friends.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish this book would have been around when I was a kid! It really explains the feelings of both the victim and the bully. I liked how the book says to get adults involved and to not let the situation just go away. Lucy told her mom and also Tommy’s mom got involved but doesn’t go into detail on what happened, just at the end Tommy and Lucy became friends.

[Lacy | literary_lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story about bullying. One girl keeps getting bullied, and the bully gets in trouble, then she shows her bully some compassion that makes a big difference! This is a great book to teach children about bullying. That it’s not okay to bully, and to tell someone if you’re being bullied!

[Ellie McGarvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives children the opportunity to see that bullies just feel negative about themselves and they aren’t actually bad people. I love this book!

[NayDoubleU · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about bullying. Although I think it would have hit home more so if it was based off real people but still got the point across with my class

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Use to teach the effects of bullying and the importance of forgiveness.

[Luella Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice simple story for kids about bullying by a bull.

[skcocnaH · Rating 3 out of 5]

If only bullying was this easily resolved.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this book models what we can do to end bullying. Be sure to read the note to parents and teachers - as it has such great wisdom in it.

[Regan Wimsatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches parents, students, and staff how to deal with bullying in a classroom.

[Francesca Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great book for young children to read if they are faced with a bully. The authors pictures and words flowed with the story, and gave the reader insight to what other characters were thinking. I also love how this book shows us through Lucy's character responds to the bully after the intervention. In the end they become friends.

[Samantha Ferrari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. One of the reasons was because I felt for both Lucy and Tommy (the bully). Not very often in a story about a bully will you end up feeling sorry for them and feeling the hurt that they too are going through. This story takes you to a new direction of kids that are being bullied and helps you to see maybe why someone bullies others. In this case Tommy felt like noone ever gave him credit for his artwork, and maybe they didn't. I love books that teach lessons and I think this book could teach children to treat everyone fairly and equally and that maybe people lash out because they feel left out.


Learning Experience: Each child writes down a time where maybe they felt left out.

Then they share it with the person next to then and tell them how that made eachother feel. Then they write down what they can do to not let people feel left out and throw it into the caring box.

[Tam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This starts out with a note to parents and teachers about bullying. As a parent of children in 1st and 5th grades, this feels like a fluffy version of bullying in younger grades. The girl being bullied had a mother who figured out that something was wrong (which doesn't always happen) and immediately went to the teacher. The very next day the bully went to school with his mother. It doesn't say what happened. Did the bully apologize to the victim? It didn't sound like it. Did the bully get threatened by the principal? It didn't stay. Instead it showed the bully being sad and quiet and the victim taking the high road and complimenting him on a drawing. Suddenly they are friends. If you're reading this to a child who is being bullied, they might have their hopes dashed if they don't have the same ending in real life.

[Stephanie T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy and the Bully was in interesting story that took both the perspective of Lucy, the bullied and Tommy the bully. When I read this book I felt sorry for not only Lucy as the victim but for Tommy as the bully. Tommy is punished for his actions of bullying Lucy and it is then that Lucy realizes that Tommy is lonely and just needs a friend. This could be a great way to teach children that sometimes bullies often hurt others because they have their own insecurities such as Tommy bullying because he felt he did not receive enough credit for his artwork. Not only is Lucy and the Bully a great example of a bullying situation, but it enables the students to recognize that we should treat everyone with the same kindness, equality and respect that we want to be treated with.

[Allyson Bogie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the message in this book--Lucy gets bullied, she's afraid to tell, eventually she tells after an entire week, Mom calls teacher, teacher talks to bully Tommy and Tommy's mom. Lucy and Tommy work it out. They're friends at the end. Cool.

BUT the editors and author really screwed up, in my opinion. Lucy is a little white lamb, and Tommy is a big dark bull. The teacher and all of the other students (various animals) are white, other than the pink pig. Don't make the one "bad" kid dark if no one else in the book is. It perpetuates racial stereotypes, at least on a subconscious level.

This book also plays into gender stereotypes, where only the moms are involved with the discipline and parenting, and the bully is a boy.

[Latosha Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Lucy, and she is being bullied by Tommy. Tommy did many things to hurt Lucy's feelings, he broke her pencils, he crumbled her painting, and he ripped her storybook. Lucy was afraid to tell her mother, but she finally did. Lucy and Tommy eventually began to get along. This story can be used to discuss bullying and how students should handle situations like Lucy's during a mini lesson. Students can write about being bullied, if they observed someone being bullied, and how should they handle a situation if they are being bullied. Students can also come up with a play about bullying.