King of the Kooties [Hardcover]

Debbie Dadey (Author), Kevin O'Malley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Donald doesn't even know he's being insulted by Louisa, the class bully, when she names him King of the Kooties-but that's just the beginning of Louisa's war against Donald. And Donald doesn't do a very good job of protecting himself. So it's up to his best friend Nate to teach Donald to defend himself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For fourth-grader Nate Nelson, trying to short-circuit class bully Louisa's mean streak is like "standing in front of a speeding freight train and trying to stop it with a Ping-Pong ball." Nate is a shy boy who loves soccer and hates school. Things begin to look up for Nate when a new boy his age, Donald, moves next door. Donald is great at baseball, but he doesn't know how to play soccer or football and his hair is very short and "stands straight up like a crazy person's," making him a sure-fire target for Louisa. She calls him "Sir Donald, King of the Kooties," and as her taunts continue, Nate decides they must put a stop to her cruelty. A series of mildly funny mishaps lead to a pat finale: they kill the bully with kindness. Dadey's (the Bailey School Kids series) predictable plot gets some oomph from the children's credible dialogue, but O'Malley's (Leo the Cockroach, Toy Tester) black-and-white illustrations lack the personality of his picture books. A slight story that delivers no practical solutions. Ages 7-10. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Grade 2-4-A harmless bit of fluff. It is the first day of fourth grade, and nasty bully Louisa has chosen the new boy as her target. Dubbing him "Sir Donald, King of the Kooties," she gets her friends to rally round her to make his life miserable. Donald's friend Nate wants to help him with the situation, so the two plan various counterattacks, such as ignoring her, and trying to win her over first with chocolate then with compliments. Finally the boys decide to capitalize on the nickname and threaten her; "...unless you stop teasing us, we will give you kooties, and you will be the Princess of Kooties." This tactic does the trick. The conclusion finds Donald helping Louisa with a computer game. Sprinkled with inane insults throughout, this slight story about a common problem has a pat ending. Even a subplot (Nate's sister thinks her teacher hates her) is solved too quickly, giving a false ring to the tale. The characters are one-dimensional: evil Louisa has no redeeming qualities. Steer beginning chapter-book readers to Patricia Reilly Giff's "Polk Street School" titles (Dell) for a more satisfying look at classroom life.
Anne Knickerbocker, Cedar Brook Elementary School, Houston, TX
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 84 pages
• Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802787096
• ISBN-13: 978-0802787095
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,444,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars blindside the bully, June 14, 2000

By 

marinda martin (Efland, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: King of the Kooties (Hardcover)

Bad books on bullying resolve the conflict by having the bully pledge eternal friendship after receiving Algebra (or English or History) lessons from the bullied. There are a lot of bad books about bullying out there. This isn't one of them. Highly recommended to be read aloud with a child on your lap.