Bullying can be a tough topic to tackle. Here are a few books that help address bullying and can help start a conversation about how to handle bullies in any situation. Stay tuned for next month’s book list!

The Juice Box Bully by Maria Dismondy and Bob Sorenson 

Best for: Grades Pre-K-2

ISBN-10: 1933916729

ISBN-13: 978-1933916729

Have you ever seen a bully in action and done nothing about it? The kids at Pete’s new school get involved, instead of being bystanders. When Pete begins to behave badly, his classmates teach him about “The Promise”. Will Pete decide to shed his bullying habits and make “The Promise”?

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Don’t Sit On my Lunch by Abby Klein

Best for: Grades Pre-K-3

ISBN-10: 0439556023

ISBN-13: 978-0439556026

Bullies are a problem in school, and Max Sellars is the worst one yet. In addition to hassling Freddy, Max also challenges him for the open spot on the peewee hockey team. In a warm and funny ending, Max and Freddy make peace with one another, and — in a surprising twist — end up becoming teammates.

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The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill 

Best for: Grades Pre-K-3

ISBN-10: 0439206375

ISBN-13: 978-0439206372

With her irrepressible spirit, the new girl dethrones the reigning recess bully by becoming her friend in this infectious playground romp.

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Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco

Best for: Grades 2-4

ISBN-10: 0399257624

ISBN-13: 978-0399257629

In this autobiographical story, Little Trisha, overjoyed at the thought of learning how to read struggles when she finds that all the letters and numbers get jumbled up. Her classmates make matters worse by calling her dummy. Finally, in fifth grade, she is lucky enough to have a teacher who recognizes Trisha’s incredible artistic ability — and understands her problem, and takes the time to lead her to the magic of reading.

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The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes 

Best for: Grades 3-5

ISBN-10: 0152052607

ISBN-13:978-0152052607

In this Newbery Honor Book, Wanda Petronski is a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time it’s too late. Maddie, one of Wanda’s classmates, ultimately decides that she isn’t going to stand by and say nothing again.

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Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick 

Best for: Grades 3-7

ISBN-10: 0439286069

ISBN-13: 978-0439286060

A brilliant, emotionally charged novel about two boys. One is a slow learner, too large for his age, and the other is a tiny, disabled genius. The two pair up to create one formidable human force known as “Freak the Mighty”.

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Eighth-Grade Superhero by Olugbemisolaj Rhuday-Perkovich

Best for: Grades 5-9

ISBN-10: 0545097258

ISBN-13: 978-0545097253

Ever since a deeply unfortunate incident earlier this year, Reggie’s been known as “Pukey” McKnight at his high-intensity Brooklyn middle school. He wants to turn his image around, but he has other things on his mind as well. The elections for school president are coming up, but with his notorious nickname and “nothing” social status, Reggie wouldn’t stand a chance, if he even had the courage to run. Then Reggie gets involved with a local homeless shelter. Haunted by two of the clients there — George, a once-proud man who shares his interest in comic books, and Charlie, a six-year-old kid — he begins to think about making a difference, both in the world and at school. Pukey for President? It can happen…if he starts believing.

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The Bully by Paul Langan

Best for: Grades 7-9

ISBN-10: 1897039085

ISBN-13: 978-1897039083

A new life. An new school. A new bully. That’s what Darrell Mercer faces when he and his mother move from Philadelphia to California. After spending months living in fear, Darrell is faced with a big decision: He can keep running from this bully, or find a way to fight back.

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Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Best for: Grades 9-12

ISBN-10: 0062317601

ISBN-13: 978-0062317605

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps — gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own.That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?

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Click here to learn more about character education.

With thousands of books to choose from, it can be an overwhelming task to find books to help teach character.

Here’s a few book suggestions to start conversations about caring.

Hey Little Ant by Hannah Hoose and Phillip M. Hoose
Best for: Grades Prek-3
ISBN-10: 1883672546
ISBN-13: 978-1883672546
To squish or not to squish? Readers decide the ending of this deceptively playful picture book, in which a young boy and an ant debate the value of the smaller creature’s life.

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Stone Soup by Jon Muth
Best for: Grades K-3
ISBN-10: 043933909X
ISBN-13: 978-0439339094
An award-winning artist adds a Zen twist to a favorite tale. As three monks travel along a mountain road, they encounter villagers ravaged by harsh times, making them cold to strangers. When the monks entice them to make soup from stones, the villagers discover how much they have to give.

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A Cricket in Time Square by George Seldon
Best for: Grades 3-5
ISBN-10: 0374316503
ISBN-13: 978-0374316501
This Newbery Honor Book tells the story of Chester, a cricket from Connecticut, and his friendship with a little boy named Mario, a mouse named Tucker, and a cat named Harry in New York’s Times Square.  Chester, a musical cricket from rural Connecticut, finds himself transported (via a picnic basket) to the grit and grime of New York City. When Mario Bellini, a boy from the neighborhood, finds Chester, he raises the insect as his own. Chester soon meets Mario’s animal friends, Tucker and Harry, and learns about life on the streets. And when Mario’s parents are faced with the bankruptcy of their subway newsstand, the friends try to come up with a plan to save it from disaster.

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Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
Best for: Grades 4-7
ISBN-10: 1250043239
ISBN-13: 978-1250043238
Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There’s no more money for rent. And not much for food either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again. Crenshaw is a cat. He’s large, he’s outspoken, and he’s imaginary. He has come back into Jackson’s life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?

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Freaks by Kieran Larwood
Best for: Grades 5-9
ISBN-10: 0545474248
ISBN-13: 978-0545474245
Sheba, the fur-faced Wolfgirl, can sniff out a threat from miles away. Monkeyboy clambers up buildings in the blink of an eye, then drops deadly stink bombs of his own making (yes, that kind)! Sister Moon sees in the dark, and moves at the speed of light. Born with weird abnormalities that make them misfits, these Freaks spend their nights on public display, trapped in a traveling Victorian sideshow. But during the day, they put their strange talents to use: They solve the most sinister crimes. And in a dank, desperate world of crooks and child-snatchers, they’re determined to defend London’s most innocent victims: the street urchins disappearing from the city’s streets.

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Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Best for: Grades 9-12
ISBN-10: 1423152190
ISBN-13: 978-1423152194
Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun. When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity

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Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Best for: Grades 9-12
ISBN-10: 1250012570
ISBN-13: 978-1250064875
Eleanor lives in a tiny house packed with younger siblings, a mother who is a shell of her former self, and a toxic stepfather. She wears thrift-store clothing embellished with her own style, is overweight, and has wild red hair. Her first day on the bus no one budges to make room for her to sit. Except Park.

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Click here to learn more about character education.

With thousands of books to choose from, it can be an overwhelming task to find books to help teach character.  Here’s a few book suggestions to start conversations about respect.

Apple Pie Fourth of July by Janet S. Wong
Best for: Grades Prek-3
ISBN 13: 978-0618238552
Shocked that her parents are cooking Chinese food to sell in the family store on this all-American holiday, a feisty Chinese-American girl tries to tell her mother and father how things really are. But as the parade passes by and fireworks light the sky, she learns a lesson of her own.

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The Rain Came Down by David Shannon
Best for: Grades Prek-3
ISBN 13: 978-0545138505
Once upon a sunny day, the sky clouded over and the rain came down. The chicken squawked, the baby cried, the traffic snarled, the groceries fell, the people bickered, and still, the rain came down.

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The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Best for: Grades 2-5
ISBN 13: 978-0439472265
In 1960, Ruby, a young African-American girl, entered a whites-only school in New Orleans. Even though she had to pass through crowds of angry protesters, Ruby bravely walked into the school. Every day for months, Ruby persevered. White parents pulled their children out of the school, and Ruby and her teacher were alone in the classroom. Still, Ruby and her family would not give in.

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Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Best for: Grades 3-5
ISBN 13: 978-0061962790
Awards:  Newbery Honor and National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Based on the author’s own childhood and written in free-verse poems, this unforgettable story captures a fierce girl’s struggles to find her place in her family, in her new home, and in the world. Hà has only ever known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope—toward America.

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The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
Best for: Grades 6-8
ISBN 13: 978-0440228004
Awards:  Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
Enter the world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Momma and Dad decide it’s time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons head South to Birmingham, Alabama…toward one of the darkest moments in America’s history.

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Echo by Pa Munoz Ryan
Best for: Grades 6-8
ISBN 13: 978-0439874021

Awards: 2016 Newbery Honor
Enter the world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Momma and Dad decide it’s time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons head South to Birmingham, Alabama…toward one of the darkest moments in America’s history.

A hilarious, touching, and tragic novel about civil rights and the impact of violence on one African American family.

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Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Best for: Grades 7-9
ISBN 10: 0545050561
Jamie just wants to fit in. She doesn’t want to be seen as a stereotypical Muslim girl, so she does everything possible to hide that part of herself. Even if it means pushing her friends away because she’s afraid to let them know her dad forbids her from hanging out with boys or that she secretly loves to play the darabuka (Arabic drums). But when the cutest boy in school asks her out and her friends start to wonder about Jamie’s life outside of school, her secrets threaten to explode. Can Jamie figure out how to be both Jamie and Jamilah before she loses everything?

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Click here to learn more about character education.

The Six Pillars of Character are usually pretty simple to explain.  They are ethical values that are easy for everyone to understand and appreciate.

If you think for a few minutes, you could identify several ways that using that the Pillars can help you be the best person you can be.  Your best self.

What about how the Pillars can help you do a good job?  Your best work.

Doing our best work requires dependability, perseverance, determination, and diligence.  And passion, resourcefulness, confidence, and critical thinking.  The list could go on and on!

Caring may mean more than we used to think.  Showing caring through appreciation, kindness and compassion will help us be our best self.  Showing caring through passion, adaptability and collaboration can help us do our best work.

What about trustworthiness?  Striving to be our best self includes trustworthiness traits like honesty and integrity.  We can show trustworthiness through dependability, diligence, and craftsmanship in our efforts to do our best work.

Now that we’ve expanded our views of the Pillars, how can you use them to do your best work?

How does our character play a role in the challenges our world faces? In today’s guest blog, Paul Smith of Des Moines gives us his  thoughts on how the Six Pillars of Character can change the important issues in our lives.

 

Recently I came across the Stephen Covey quote: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”  I was struck by how simple and yet profound this statement is.  I cannot help but observe that this small bit of simple wisdom could revolutionize our world if we actually took it to heart.

At times, it seems like those who point to the problems our world faces are outnumbered by those who claim to have the answer for the latest identified crisis.  It’s not that the newer things identified are not important; clearly they are very important to someone.  But are we guilty of swatting at flies rather than simply removing whatever is drawing them in?  One reason that 24-hour cable news networks remain in business is that that new problems and new crises are continually being identified.  Does the fact that a problem is ‘new’ mean it is more crucial than something else?

If the solution isn’t constantly shifting resources to the next problem, and then the next, and then the next, what is?  Perhaps we should consider that question in the context of Covey’s quote and instead ask ourselves “Is this problem truly “the main thing”? If not, what is?”

Consider for a moment what our world would look like if every person observed the basic, fundamental principles of the Six Pillars of Character.

• Would we have experienced the financial meltdown of the past decade if those in business and finance had been more TRUSTWORTHY?
• Would our differences still divide and define us if we all practiced RESPECT for one another?
• Would our court system be filled with lawsuits and counter-suits if we all had demonstrated greater RESPONSIBILITY for our actions?
• Would our law books be so full if we were less me-focused and instead showed more FAIRNESS toward others?
• Would those in need be overwhelming help agencies and government programs if each of us were more actively CARING?
• Would our government be the subject of scorn, distrust, and ridicule if each of us were fully engaged in CITIZENSHIP?

CHARACTER COUNTS! is not just a program with a few catchy phrases and cool t-shirts, it’s about building foundations in our schools, workplaces, athletics, and communities upon which all of the other issues are resolved because it addresses “the main thing.”