Just a Bully by Gina Mayer

Just a Bully Reviews

• 
  April

  I generally like the Little Critter Books, but this is definitely not one of my favorites. My kids like it, but I am not sure I like the message it presents. Not only do Little Critter and his sister solve their problem by fighting the bully, but then they show aggression back towards the bully, in essence becoming bullies themselves. As a teacher, I also am not a fan of how the teacher in the book is portrayed as not doing enough to deal with the issue of the bully. Every time I read it to my kids, I take the time to discuss with them the better choices that Little Critter and his sister could have made to better deal with the situation.
• 
  midnightfaerie

  Another little critters book my 5 yr old loved! He's starting to pick these up whenever we go to the library. This one he read to his younger brothers and even they enjoyed it. Probably only a level 1 reading level, it was still a cute story and worth getting to encourage reading.
• 
  Lauren Vallee

  @jeff :(
• 
  Cassie

  I do not care for this book. The part I have trouble with is when Little Critter beats the bully up and then the little sister shoves the bully.
  
  I just don't think that I want my five year old to think it's ok to hit people-even when they are mean to him. As we were reading it we talked about what kind of choices Little Critter could make instead of hitting the bully.
  
  Most of the Little Critter books are so good. I was surprised that this one was so contrary to what I would teach my children.
  
  We've actually had this book for awhile but it recently resurfaced. I think I'll make sure it doesn't resurface again. It's Curtains for Critter!
• 
  Pam

  This book made me a little uncomfortable. Not sure violence is the way to handle a bully...
• 
  Amanda

  I usually love the critter books but am not sure about this one. Ari likes it but the message is that beating people up is awesome if they are a bully and I am not really okay with that.
• 
  Rob

  There was so much that went wrong in this book, The premise was old school literally, but in school now, The over reaction by teachers and schools, the whole bully thing just wouldn't go down like in the book. also if your kid fights back, the police might be brought in. I hate that society has gone the way it has, but this book just wont fit like it used too. besides that this was still a good read.
• 
  Sarah

  Maybe it is an old fashioned message, but LC sticks up for himself against a bully who was picking on his little sister, and then the bully leaves him alone. I love the camaraderie of the siblings in this story!~
• 
  Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams

  I prefer books where the author has the characters trying to be nice to and make friends with bullies. But this book about defending yourself and others from bullies was good too.
• 
  Josiah

  In one of Mercer Mayer's more socially confrontational picture books, we see Little Critter and his sister react under fire to the frequent admonition of their parents that they should "always stick up for each other." When a bully of her very own latches onto Little Sister at school, Little Critter stands up to the mean young gator, only to have this approach backfire as the bully forgets about Little Sister and shifts focus to harassing Little Critter every moment of the school day. If the bully refuses to let up, can Little Critter ever feel secure at school again?
  
  The bully is a lot bigger than Little Sister, and Little Critter knows from the start that it's no fair fight. But the antagonistic gator is also too big for Little Critter, so there's not much he can do to stop him when the bully makes him his new target. The bully shoots rubber bands at him, trips him in the hallway, calls him bad names, and wrecks a school project Little Critter worked hard to complete. Informing the teacher of the bullying only worsens the situation. Now Little Critter fears returning to school, and when he does, his scaly-skinned bully is waiting to start a scuffle with him. There may be no recourse for Little Critter but to raise his small fists and try to mount a passable physical defense of himself, but that's not likely to work out well for anyone. The bully may never change his mind and attitude about pushing around those littler than himself, but pushback from an unexpected source could at least level the playing field, if it's a source to which the bully has no effective answer. Bullies can be ruthless and crush one's spirit; they can force their victim underground so he or she doesn't ever safe resurfacing, but the proper support can keep a bully at bay and remind the harangued that all can still be good after the trauma. Rainclouds move on and the sky sparkles cerulean again, and we might almost forget we ever were bullied. Like Little Critter, revel in your surprise reinforcements when they come, keep looking up, and this too shall pass.
  
  The subtext of Just a Bully's illustrations is worth a mention, though not every reader will catch it. For most Little Critter stories, there's a mouse hidden (or not-so-hidden) in every picture, but in Just a Bully the mouse plays a sidebar role in the narrative. The mouse has its own mouse bully to contend with, one who mimics the gator bully's tactics against Little Critter to push around the mouse, whose reactions to the intimidation mirror Little Critter's. It's a relief to see Little Critter and the mouse both get out from under their bullies' thumbs by the end of the book. Their intertwining stories are a great touch, and I consider Just a Bully one of Mercer Mayer's better books. I would give it two and a half stars, and considered going higher. I sincerely recommend this to readers of any age.
• 
  Slayermel

  This is another book that the children at work want read over and over again. They are fascinated with the bully and why he's bothering the little critter. The children can't wait to get to the part where the bully calls the little critter "Fathead", it's like they can't believe he just said that.
  I really like how it goes through the stages of bullying though. Starting with the little critter sticking up for his sister, then himself becoming the target. Having things said to and thrown at him by the bully, telling the teacher and the bullying getting worse, until it ends up in a fight. I think some children can really relate to this, especially some of my older Kindergarten aged children.
• 
  Greta

  I have mixed feelings about this book. Sometimes I wish the natural consequences would be allowed to occur to deal with bullies, but society doesn't let that happen anymore. That is the way Mercer Mayer allows the problem to be solved. As I read this book to my kindergartner, I wondered what lessons she was gleaning as to how to solve bully problems and I wasn't so comfortable letting her think she could be mean back. So, it's a toss-up for me as to how I received this book. I guess I'll just mark it in the middle at 3.
• 
  Gina Erb

  Since the age of 3-4 I, personally have always been a big fan when it comes to the Little Critter book series. Just a Bully is a personal favorite. The book starts out with the little critter sticking up for his sister who was being bullied by another kid at school. Only that lead to the two of them (the brother and bully) getting into a fight. In the end the little sister ended up standing up to bully for her big brother. The illustrations within the book are awesome. It gives young readers a great life lesson about bullying and how to stand up for themselves.
• 
  Amanda

  I chose to read this book because I know that bullying is still a big problem in today's school systems. This book is written very well. The only downside I see from this problem/solution book is the solution. Although everything is very realistic, I don't agree with the way the problem was solved with the way the little sister pushes the bully and yells at him to stop. Even though this did seem to work, becoming the bully yourself is never the answer.
• 
  Natalie

  I did not like this book. Little Critter physically fights back to deal with a bully. Both boys are hurt; neither one receives any consequences. I wouldn't encourage this particular Mercer Mayer book.
• 
  Trin.Jen.Anna

  It is mean to Bully in real life. - Trinity
  Bullying is never nice, but violence isnt ether, not sure they should have left it at the kids yelling and pushing the Bully, because now they seem like a Bully too.... - Jeni
• 
  Amber

  
  
  As a teacher and how bullying is such an issue these days, this is not a book about bullies I would bring into the classroom. In the end the bully is now being bullied and we don't want to resort to violence in any way.
• 
  Paige Kirkland

  I think its soo cute and lukes relationship with her is so up and down I love it. That's the cute part to me. Because in the end of the day kind of they work things out in interesting ways to me. I like all of the other characters as well.
• 
  Hannah Thill

  This book is awful. It encourages violence.
• 
  Hugh

  It's so funny when his little sister calls the bully a fat head!