Customer Reviews

The Berenstain Bears and the Bully

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

After encountering the first episodes of bullying in my own daughter's life, I decided to go read up on all of the things I could do to address the problem myself and teach my daughter how to address this problem herself.

In this reading and talking with other parents, I decided that the best approach to addressing bullying is to try to focus the bad behavior onto the bully and help my daughter learn that bullies sometimes are victims of their own childhoods.

And this is exactly what this book does.

At the start of the story, Sister is beat up by a new bear named "Tuffy." And as most parents, the Momma and Papa bear tell sister to ignore the bully. However, like most kids, this advice seems a little hollow to Brother and Sister. The two of them conspire to teach Sister self defense techniques so that she won't be victimized again. And over the course of the weekend, Sister learns to fight and protect herself.

At the end of the weekend, Sister is reminded by her brother that she still needs to avoid Tuffy since this is what the parents want (and I would add that the underlying message is that knowing how to protect yourself isn't a license to look for trouble).

Sister does avoid Tuffy until a few days later she catches Tuffy throwing stones at a baby bird that cannot fly. Sister, wanting to protect the baby bird, confronts Tuffy. Tuffy, when confronted, decides to attack Sister. However, because Sister learned self-defense, Sister is ready for Tuffy and ends up punching Tuffy in the nose.

A teacher catches the fight and the two are sent to see the principle. While sitting on the bench outside the principle's office, Sister learns a little about Tuffy. She learns that Tuffy is hit at home and that perhaps that is why she hits other kids. And this realization is the real gem of the story. The realization that Tuffy's bullying is due to Tuffy having problems at home. That Sister should feel bad for Tuffy for not having the wonderful homelife that Sister has.

In the end, because Sister was actually standing up for a creature less able to defend itself from a bully, Sister was let off with a warning. Tuffy was given a week where she couldn't participate in recess and had to go to sessions with the school psychologist to help her address her anger issues.

I highly appreciate and recommend this book as a stepping stone to use to talk about bullying, how my daughter feels when she is bullied, why bullies act the way they do, etc. It is not a book that you can give to your child and expect that all is cured. But bullying isn't one of those issues that any single story could ever address. It is an issue that, in my opinion, requires that you spend a lot of time addressing the many many issues that are involved so that over time, your child learns to navigate through this complex problem.

This book teaches children (with adult interpretation) that:
1) Bullying is bad.
2) Learning to defend yourself is good
3) Defending the helpless is good
4) Avoiding a bully is good
5) Throwing the first punch is bad
6) Bullies aren't necessarily evil (and aren't always as tough as they seem)
7) Hiding from trouble doesn't always work
8) Zero tolerance is idiotic (the principal dealt with things intelligently, if not perfectly; his not calling Tuffy's parents is the reason I'm giving this four instead of five stars)

This isn't a perfect book, but it's good, and reading it with your child can lead to good discussions (never read your children a book that attempts to teach something without asking questions about what they learned). I recommend this book, but only if you're willing to talk with your kids about it. And if you're teaching your kids not to defend themselves (and others) against attack, you really ought to rethink your position.

I couldn't believe this book. Basically it has the kid who got beat up by the bully go home and learn to beat up bullies, then go to school and actually beat up the bully. In the end, no one gets into trouble...they even mention that the parents weren't called. What kind of lesson are they trying to teach? I was horrified...I was reading this book to my child, and at the end we both said "huh?" I was hoping to teach him about practical ways to handle bullies, but all the book told him was that he should be one himself. Read this one for yourself (but before you read it aloud to the kids...)

Usually I find the Berenstain Bears series books to carry solid, helpful messages for kids. The books are certainly the major kindergarten collection of choice in our house. However, I believe Stan and Jan missed the mark on this one. The other synopsis notes mention reference to an "unavailable text." I wonder if the current edition has a few major revisions

This is a great book about bullying to read to children ages 4-9. It offers the opportunity to discuss bullying issues and concerns while reading along. The kids I have read this with or to really enjoy it.

The Berenstain Bears and the Bully is a book that explores the theme of Bullies as the title states. In this book Sister bear is beaten up at the park by a bear named Tuffy. When Sister comes home crying the family wants to know what happened. After a few moments of tears Sister is able to tell her family she has been beaten up. The whole family is upset. Brother Bear goes to the park to find Tuffy, however when Brother sees that Tuffy is a girl he leaves the park. Brother stops by the school to gather a few items and returns home. Once home and after the meal Brother takes Sister down cellar. There he has a set up a self-defense course for Sister Bear. Returning to school Sister tries to avoid Tuffy, but one day it proves to be to hard, for Tuffy is picking on some baby birds and Sister can't let her get away with it. So, Sister and Tuffy get into a fight. Sister wins after punching Tuffy in the nose and they are sent to the office. Sister ends up learning a little more about Tuffy that day there on the bench and feels a little sad for Tuffy. The subject matter of this book is bullying and abuse.

The reading level is best suited for first graders. This book is classified as an easy reader. Depending on the reading level of individual kindergarten and second graders this book may work equally as well. This book contains some hard words such as accident, outrageous, knuckle, etc. It also contains some long words discussing, wavelength, protecting, etc. However, with a little guidance students should be able to pick up on these words.

This book is 29 pages long and 28 of these pages contain written text. The structure of the book is fairly consisted, in that each page contains a short paragraph of text. There are a few exceptions to this structure where a few action words are used on a page with pictures to accompany each action. The length of the book would be perfect for an after recess story time book with a short discussion afterward, however this is a book I might plan a whole lesson around because bullying can happen to anyone and affect many students.

The text and pictures accompany each other very well. The author and illustrator collaborated perfectly to make the story understandable through both pictures and words. Nearly every page of this book contains some form of text, which is accompanied by a picture. The text on most pages is approximately one short paragraph.

The developmental level of this book would be best suited for early elementary education students, those in grades k-2. The developmental level may vary depending on students' development in reading and maturity. Since, students of all ages can be subject to bullying I feel the content is developmentally appropriate for all ages. It is important to discuss bullying with students and talk about why it happens, how it can be prevented and what to do when it happens.

It is hard to tell if there is any diversity factors in this book. The characters in this book are not human so there does not seem to be any ethnic or racial diversity. The book contains both male and female characters so there does not seem to be any gender issues. In fact I think this book is unique in that it shows a female in the bully role whereas stereotypically it would most likely be a male.

This book contains content that can be used over and over again. It can be used with different students and/or different classes. The overall theme of this book is bullying, however abuse is touched on a little near the end when Sister wonders if Tuffy is a bully because she is being abused at home. Although we would like to see bullying come to an end it probably won't, but with this book and others like it we can encourage students not to bully and teach them what to do if they are being bullied or know someone who is. This book is well worth the cost. The content is moderately specialized.

This book can be used to help students who are being bullied, know someone who is being bullied, are themselves the bully, etc. It is important to make students aware of bullying. This book would be beneficial for all students in class on a therapeutic level because it is vitally important to make students aware of what bullying is, what to do about it, etc. Students have been severely injured by bulling and students need to know that it is not okay under any circumstances. This book would be best use in my eyes through a whole class approach. Including reading the book aloud to the students, role-playing, guided discussion, and/or recording thoughts, ideas, etc. in a daybook or journal.

This is a great book to use to get the students ready for a discussion on bullying. I would suggest using this book before an incident of bullying accrues as to help student recognize it and to try and prevent any of your students from being hurt by a bully. Bullying in schools is a very serious issue that needs to be taken into account by teachers and discussed openly in class. There needs to be a zero tolerance level for bullying and this is book is a good way to introduce bullying to students.

But really?! At one point in the book, Sister tells' Brother about the bully and he goes to the playground to beat the bully up, he realizes that the bully is a girl. And, of course, "but Brother couldn't beat up a girl, because that would make him the bully." That was the first time in my life I had ever heard of a female being inferior to a male. I thought for a while after that the reason my brother beat me at sports was because I was a girl and he wasn't, not because he was nine years my senior. When he told me I wasn't playing up to my potential, I would pull out the excuse, "But I'm a girl! You're supposed to be better than me!" I love the Bernstein Bears, really, I do, but this book had a negative effect on me as a child.

If your child has ever had trouble with a bully, be sure to read this book with him/her. Sister gets beaten up by a new girl who has issues at home, which the book alludes to as borderline child abuse. When Sister tries to defend a baby bird from the bully, this bully tries to beat her up again but this time, after brother's training, Sister defends herself and punches this girl in the nose. There's nothing wrong with teaching a child to defend themselves and I'm very glad that this book does that. There are so very many aggressive children, abused children out there that kids really need to have some sort of defense. After working many years in a children's hospital, you wouldn't believe the things I've seen regarding child abuse. My only problem with this book is that they don't mention that anyone stepped up to care for that cub. The principal was right not to call the cub's parents because that would have instigated more abuse, but again, just sending her to the cub psychologist really isn't enough. This is a very deep book, not one to be taken lightly, but if your child has ever experienced this type of situation, it can be very, very vindicating and empower them not to feel as if they've been belittled, but that they do have an option to help themselves.

This was OK, but I didn't like the ending so much. Self defense I agree with when it comes to bullys, but the author should have elaborated a little better on the ending or changed it all together.

I thought the book was great for my sixth grade class. A school social worker trainee selected one of my classes and read the book with a follow up discussion. Yes, the language and situation is unsuitable for 3 year olds. I suggest saving this book for 4th grade and above because they will be able to understand the school environment. Bullying is fast becoming one of the major reasons for stress in schools much more than even grades. Children should be taught to defend themselves- as an adult- I take self defense classes so I'm not sure why there were comments about Sister being taught how to defend herself. Brother going to the school to protect his sister and address the bully is also a very human reaction. More important is the discussion of the book that should take place after the reading not just the content of the book. I agree the parents should have been called since a fight occured but sometimes calling the parents will heighten the abuse. If Tuffy was really being abused at home- the principal is mandated to call social services-that's why I did not give the book 4 stars. Overall, save this book for when the kids go into school---it's great to try and protect our children from the unpleasant aspects of life but as a middle school teacher- if you do not teach them at home- they will learn very quickly at school.