These books feature healthy child-led strategies for dealing with bullying and teasing:
Lili Macaroni
by Nicole Testa, illus. Annie Boulanger
After careless teasing makes Lili wish to be someone else, she symbolically places her hurt feelings on the wings of a paper butterfly. When she wears the butterfly to school, it begins a powerful conversation about the hurt feelings everybody carries.
Tickled Pink: How Friendship Washes the World with Color
by Andrée Poulin, illus. Lucile Danis Drouot
Filippo’s self-esteem plummets when he is excluded by two peers, but a new friend helps him realize that their opinion doesn’t determine his worth.
French Toast
by Kari-Lynn Winters, illus. François Thisdale
Phoebe reclaims the school nickname she hates by connecting it with positive associations of her family’s cross-cultural cooking.
Duck Days
by Sarah Leach, illus. Rebecca Bender
Third-grader Lauren learns to let unkind words roll off her—like water off a duck’s back.
Music for Tigers
Middle school can be tough, but Colin helps Louisa cope with her anxiety while she shows him how to tell the difference between condescension and kindness.