Bullying, Prepare To Walk The Plank!
This 48 page, soft-paper-bound book, with beautiful, bright colors and pictures throughout, is written for children. Pirates are the theme of “The Captain No Beard Series,” and this particular story’s subject matter is bullying.
All on board the pirate ship are suffering from lack of things to drink. The goat, Matie, has drunk more than her share of the juice boxes, and now they are all gone. When they begin to get thirsty, some of the crew–Linus Lion, Polly Parrot, and Mongo Monkey–gang up on Matie. They start making fun of Matie’s name, and the way she speaks. Much hurtful behavior goes on, and crew members start dividing into sides.
Eventually, there is a change of heart toward Matie, and she is even responsible for showing everyone an alternative drinking source. The bullies’ change of heart comes about in a simplistic way, but it needs to be for a story that is geared toward young children.
Bullying has become such a pervasive behavior in all age groups among both girls and boys. It is never too soon to address this issue with children. This book would need to be read to children in first grade and below. But children older than that might possibly read this on their own.
The pirate theme and talking animals are light-hearted ways to communicate a very serious topic. Every effort needs to be made to stop such destructive behavior as bullying. Hopefully stories such as this will not only address the subject, but provide a springboard for further discussion of the matter as well. I recommend this 5-star book as one of the first-line tools to start broaching this issue with children.
I’d like to thank the author for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own, and I was not required, or influenced, to give anything but an honest review.
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