Big Red and the Little Bitty Wolf: A Story About Bullying

This book is a great way to introduce the topic of bullying to a group of young students. The Little Bitty Wolf used to love to walk to school - until Big Red moved into the neighborhood. Now she's terrorizing him and walking to school is no fun. This story uses a light touch to help young children understand what bullying is and how it hurts. Use this book to begin the discussion about bullying and the ways children can make it stop. There are parent/teacher notes in the back that give some basic counselor advice and can be useful for the home or classroom. This is a nice book to add to your tool box when talking to young children about a tough topic.

This book is an interesting twist on the classic fairy tale. Little Bitty Wolf has to walk through the woods to get to his elementary school. He carries his lunch in a nice basket, and he used to love going to school. After Big Red moves into the neighborhood and starts walking that path, he no longer likes it. Big Red is a bully. She jumps out at him from behind trees, pulls his tail, and eventually steals his lunch. Little Bitty Wolf asks his parents for advice, but telling Big Red to stop and puffing himself up to look bigger don't help. Finally, his teacher takes him to the school counselor. Mr. Know-It-Owl tells him to do something unexpected. Little Bitty Wolf smiles at Big Red and doesn't react to her bullying the next time, and she gives him his lunch back. He wonders how often people smile at her, and he decides to be nice to her from now on.There is a parent resource section at the end of the book with information on signs of bullying and being a bully. It also talks about ways to deal with it and how to help your kids even if they're just bystanders.I was a little uneasy about the resolution to bullying in this book. And I was a little surprised the end note didn't address the solution a little more. I think it can be true that bullies are hurting and in need of friends or just looking for attention, even in negative ways. The more I thought about it, I remembered by own experience with my older brother who liked to torment my sister and me. I remember telling her to ignore him and not get upset by his behavior. She never listened. She always yelled or fought back, and he always enjoyed messing with her more than he did me.This book strives to start the conversation between parents (or teachers) and children about bullying, and I think it serves that purpose well. I haven't read it with my son yet, but I will. I think it's a good resource, but it's not the best resource out there for bullying.[...]