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Bully B.E.A.N.S.
Bully B.E.A.N.S. teaches children how to speak up when it comes to bullying.
Bullying continues to be an ongoing problem for children everywhere. Children from every race, culture, and socioeconomic group are susceptible to bullies. Most children are unprepared for how to handle it when bullying happens to them or someone they know. Bully B.E.A.N.S helps children identify bullying, and offers clear and impactful action strategies for both targets and bystanders.
Maxine liked to pick on kids… especially Winston. Winston is the smartest kid in our whole school. Maxine made him do all of her homework and give her all of his lunch money. Maxine liked to make Winston cry… then she’d call him a crybaby.
“If you don’t do exactly what I tell you to, I’ll knock you into next week!”
Nobody liked the way Maxine treated Winston, but we were too afraid to do anything about it.
Written by bestselling author Julia Cook, Bully B.E.A.N.S. reminds children of the power of their voice and how to use it effectively when standing up against bullying.
Bullies Everywhere Are Now Stopped!
Bullying continues to be an ongoing problem for children everywhere. Children from every race, culture, and socioeconomic group are susceptible to bullies. Most children are unprepared for how to handle it when bullying happens to them or someone they know. Bully B.E.A.N.S helps children identify bullying, and offers clear and impactful action strategies for both targets and bystanders.
Maxine liked to pick on kids… especially Winston. Winston is the smartest kid in our whole school. Maxine made him do all of her homework and give her all of his lunch money. Maxine liked to make Winston cry… then she’d call him a crybaby.
“If you don’t do exactly what I tell you to, I’ll knock you into next week!”
Nobody liked the way Maxine treated Winston, but we were too afraid to do anything about it.
Written by bestselling author Julia Cook, Bully B.E.A.N.S. reminds children of the power of their voice and how to use it effectively when standing up against bullying.
Bullies Everywhere Are Now Stopped!
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Julia Cook
151 books197 followers"In order to teach children, you must enter their view of the world."
~ Julia Cook
JULIA COOK, M.S. is a national award winning children’s author, counselor and parenting expert. She has presented in thousands of schools across the country and abroad, regularly speaks at national education and counseling conferences, and has published children’s books on a wide range of character and social development topics. The goal behind Cook’s work is to actively involve young people in fun, memorable stories and teach them to become lifelong problem solvers. Inspiration for her books comes from working with children and carefully listening to counselors, parents, and teachers, in order to stay on top of needs in the classroom and at home. Cook has the innate ability to enter the worldview of a child through storybooks, giving children both the “what to say” and the “how to say it”.
~ Julia Cook
JULIA COOK, M.S. is a national award winning children’s author, counselor and parenting expert. She has presented in thousands of schools across the country and abroad, regularly speaks at national education and counseling conferences, and has published children’s books on a wide range of character and social development topics. The goal behind Cook’s work is to actively involve young people in fun, memorable stories and teach them to become lifelong problem solvers. Inspiration for her books comes from working with children and carefully listening to counselors, parents, and teachers, in order to stay on top of needs in the classroom and at home. Cook has the innate ability to enter the worldview of a child through storybooks, giving children both the “what to say” and the “how to say it”.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 21, 2019
This book is an excellent tool in teaching young children about bullying. This book gets them to open up more easily. I will be buying this one for my preschool library.
January 21, 2020
Bully B.E.A.N.S. is a good book to start a discussion with your child or class about bullying. It offers advice on how to cope with bullying, specifically about how not to be a bystander when confronted with bullying behaviour. The tangible Bully Beans/Jelly Beans gives something to focus on and the acrostic for Beans - Bullies Everywhere Are Now Stopped, is helpful for younger children. It has experiences that children would really come across at school and speaks to them about finding ways to be strong and have courage. The end pages have recommendations for students /children being bullied, those watching a friend being bullied and aren’t sure what they should do. There are also tips for kids to check themselves and make sure they aren’t being a bully in some way to others. The publisher generously provided a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.
December 29, 2019
A good book to start a discussion with your child or class about bullying. It offers advice on how to cope with bullying and how not to be a bystander when confronted with bullying behaviour.
I felt that the story behind why the child was bullying was a little too simplistic and stereotypical. Children bully for many reasons and the behaviour presents in many different ways. Cyberbullying is also a huge issue in today's society. I'm not sure the 'beans' would work for older primary school children but the younger ones might find it helpful. However, any strategy that could help a child build resilience and self-esteem should be considered. I found the story too long to read to a young class in one sitting but it is definitely a book to consider having in your class library and reading over a couple of days.
I felt that the story behind why the child was bullying was a little too simplistic and stereotypical. Children bully for many reasons and the behaviour presents in many different ways. Cyberbullying is also a huge issue in today's society. I'm not sure the 'beans' would work for older primary school children but the younger ones might find it helpful. However, any strategy that could help a child build resilience and self-esteem should be considered. I found the story too long to read to a young class in one sitting but it is definitely a book to consider having in your class library and reading over a couple of days.
January 27, 2022
Bully Beans is a great book to have in preschool/elementary classrooms or to be used by counselors as a way to discuss bullying with children. The story includes methods as well as resources on how to handle situations if you are being bullied or even if you are witnessing it happen to someone else.
I thought it was interesting that the book depicted the bully as a petite blonde girl with pigtails. This portrayal is a good way to show children that bullies don’t always look the same, and that words can be just harmful to others as being physical. I also really appreciated that the book discussed what it means to be a bystander in situations like this, and that there can be strength in numbers in order to stand up to a bully.
(*I read the new illustrated edition that was released in 2019)
I thought it was interesting that the book depicted the bully as a petite blonde girl with pigtails. This portrayal is a good way to show children that bullies don’t always look the same, and that words can be just harmful to others as being physical. I also really appreciated that the book discussed what it means to be a bystander in situations like this, and that there can be strength in numbers in order to stand up to a bully.
(*I read the new illustrated edition that was released in 2019)
September 29, 2021
If you need a book to help open the conversation about bullying, this may be a good choice. A child's mother tells her how to confront a bully, and instructs her to eat special jelly beans to give herself courage: Bullies Everywhere Are Now Stopped. Then she instructs the girls how to respond to a bully. In the story, the bully is successfully confronted and the behavior stops.
These tactics will not always work, and the reasons for bullying vary. The book's message is didactic.
Nevertheless, it can be a place to begin in discussing this persistent problem.
These tactics will not always work, and the reasons for bullying vary. The book's message is didactic.
Nevertheless, it can be a place to begin in discussing this persistent problem.
December 4, 2019
It was amazing
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2020
I like that it gave ideas that could easily be used for our students. I didn't agree with all of the skills that were taught.
February 9, 2022
Great book to use with school ages students.
December 25, 2022
Cute story about self-confience and the power of groups.
March 27, 2023
A perfect book to teach children how to stand up to bullies. Should be required reading in every school.
November 8, 2019
Bully Beans is a cute, child friendly book that uses a well-known candy to create an acrostic helping kids remember how they can stop bullying. Of course the jelly beans/ “Bully Beans” aren’t really magic, but serve as a tangible form of encouragement for a child just learning how to stand up to a bully for the first time. The word “Beans” helps them remember that when they pop a jelly bean in their mouth, they are giving themselves additional courage and suddenly “Bullies Everywhere Are Now Stopped”. Recommendations are given for students being bullied, those watching a friend being bullied and aren’t sure what they should do, and also some tips for kids to personally check themselves and make sure they aren’t being a bully in some way to others, overall, this serves as a valuable starter book for any young child dealing with bullying for the first time. I would recommend it for any Children’s Library.
I was provided a digital copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
I was provided a digital copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
April 8, 2013
Bully B.E.A.N.S. is a story about Bobbette the bully who constantly threatens the students at her school. It is not until one student goes home to tell her mother about Bobbette that the mother gives her "bully beans" that if she and her classmates eat, they be able to stand up against Bobbette. What I enjoyed most about this book is the idea concept of helping others who are bullied. This book will give students the ability to know what to do as a bystander or someone in the vicinity of bullying. Students will learn how they to can respond and stop bullying which is why I thought it would be a great addition to my bullying text-set because we rarely see stories of how others who are not bullying or being bullied can positively change the situation. I also think the Bullies Everywhere Are Now Stopped acronym involving the beans is a cute way to keep students engaged and not forget what the story is actually about.
September 28, 2019
Bully B.E.A.N.S. tackles the subject of bullying for children. It has experiences that children would really come across at school and speaks to them about finding ways to be strong and have courage. The book also talks about empathy for other people, which I felt was so important in this book. It is something we are currently talking about with our children and this book was a nice way to add to that topic. The end of the book even has some information about handling children that bully, which I loved. Overall, this was a good book, and I would recommend for any children in pre-k through 3rd grade.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, National Center of Youth Issues for providing this book to me in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, National Center of Youth Issues for providing this book to me in exchange for my honest opinion.
April 10, 2012
Bobbette is the bully in her school. She orders her classmates to obey her commands or else she threatens to turn them into human pretzels. One student goes home and tells her mom about the bully. Her mother gives her bully beans that she and her classmates should eat and then come together and face Bobbette and tell her to back off and stop bullying. B.E.A.N.S. stands for Bullies Everywhere are Now Stopped. This book can teach students to come together and stand up to bullies. It helps to answer my essential question of "How should we respond to bullying?". It also shows students that they can and should tell their parents when they are bullied.
October 1, 2019
Every single elementary school and library needs to have multiple copies of this book. This is a fantastic book about strength in numbers to stand up to bullies. It is important for kids to understand that bullying behavior happens for different reasons, and sometimes having people stand up to them will help adjust that behavior. I appreciated that the book gave multiple ideas of ways to stand up to a bully and not all of those involved an adult. Many of the solutions are one that would help kids to learn problem-solving independently which is an important life skill.
August 14, 2011
"Bullies Everywhere are Now Stopped (B.E.A.N.S.)" The jellybeans are symbolic, and maybe the gimmick would help kids remember what to do if they encounter a bully.
This book offers explicit ways to stand up to bullies and to not be a bystander and shows why some bullies act the way they do. It would be a good addition to an anti-bullying curriculum, and as a springboard for student conversation.
This book offers explicit ways to stand up to bullies and to not be a bystander and shows why some bullies act the way they do. It would be a good addition to an anti-bullying curriculum, and as a springboard for student conversation.
November 21, 2011
Another great book from Julia. I will absolutely be using this one in my classes. One issue I have with this and most books about bullying is that too often the bully is also portrayed as a victim. In Bully B.E.A.N.S. the bully is being treated badly at home by her brother and she is copying his behavior with her classmates at school. While in some cases this may be true I don't agree with always painting the bully as someone we should feel sorry for.
September 29, 2019
This was a great book. Simple and easy to understand and give kids the tools and power to stand up to bullys. I know it isn’t as easy as eating jelly beans to find strength, but to even create a dialogue is enough. I think the Bully’s Everywhere Are Now Stopped was a great message.
The tools at the back are also great to learn how to spot and deal with bullies as well as recognize if you yourself are one.
thank you to netgalley for my digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
The tools at the back are also great to learn how to spot and deal with bullies as well as recognize if you yourself are one.
thank you to netgalley for my digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
November 20, 2019
There should be more books like this one, I may not completely like the idea of using sweets to get courage to stand for yourself and others, but I like the acronym. In all seriousness, bullying is a real problem in schools and I appreciate the efforts to write about it in children-friendly language, giving tips how to stand against bullying and how to cooperate with other children.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
December 4, 2010
Awesome children's book! I bought this one for my (future) classroom. There is also a workbook that goes along with the book. (you have to buy it separately) It has so many awesome activities that can be copied and used over and over.
To make it even better, Julia Cook came and spoke to one of classes; she is extremely passionate about what she does and is in it to make a difference.
To make it even better, Julia Cook came and spoke to one of classes; she is extremely passionate about what she does and is in it to make a difference.
October 1, 2015
Bully B.E.A.N.S. is an excellent book about bullying. I actually purchased this book after I read it in the library. The pictures in the book shows expressions of students during bullying and getting bullies. The book does a good explanation of why students bully and how to deal with it. I will be reading this book to my class. I highly recommend this book.
September 28, 2019
This is a good book about that takes bullying down to kids’ terms. I like that it also talks about having courage and understanding empathy for others. At the end of the book, there are tips about how to deal with and how to cognizant bullying which is a good addition. I believe this book is good for elementary aged children.
December 6, 2011
An educational-use book about bullying. The story touches on where bullying comes from (older brother bullies little sister; sister bullies at school). Great idea on how to have a conversation about bullying and how to solve the problem.
Not a storytime read-aloud book.
Not a storytime read-aloud book.
September 29, 2010
Very cool way to teach kids about standing up to a bully
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April 26, 2011Wonderful book to use in an elementary classroom to talk to kids about bullying. Added bonus: Jellybeans for all!
December 8, 2013
This book was read to my first graders this year. It is about standing up against bullying, so I would use this as a read aloud.
October 10, 2015
Used in my bullying lesson with K-2. My first grade class yesterday LOVED it. Julia Cook breaks down some basic strategies for standing up to bullies that work well for younger students.
October 8, 2019
I think every parent, teacher, counselor, and human being needs this book. It is a great story that teachers a lesson and I think the tips at the end are perfect!
March 25, 2017
I'm so tired of seeing kids getting bullied and no one will do anything about it. Bystanders are just as guilty as those who are doing the bullying. This book introduces kids into doing more than just standing off to the side and shows them that it's better to stand up for someone else even if it makes you unpopular.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews