It's Up To You: An Anti-Bullying Message for Children - Christopher Francis - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Christopher Francis

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: August 16, 2024

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A picture book with an important message related to bullying, but not in the usual style. The approach makes this book stand out. A great option for school libraries and classroom group discussions.

This picture book is more of a manifesto than a plot-based storybook. The content alternates between one page of text and one of illustrations.

The test is written in a simple print-handwriting font and set against a notebook-style background, giving it the appearance of something written actually written by a child on a page torn off from a notebook. This adds to the personal touch of the message.

The illustrations are also simple, focussing only on what is needed rather than adding needless background clutter. The streamlined approach with the appropriate expression on the main character’s face enhances his feelings on the topic.

So, what is this important message that the text and the illustrations are aiming to deliver? The tagline tells us that it is an anti-bullying message for children. But the book is not addressed to a child who is getting bullied verbally or physically, nor is it addressed to the bully. It is addressed to children in general because, as the title says, “it’s up to you.’ The author’s being an experienced teacher ensures that the language is one that kids understand and the situation, something they can handled without fear, apprehension, or adult intervention.

This book doesn’t depict the kind of bullying we imagine or that we usually see in fictional books or movies. There’s no active bullying on the page. There’s no one getting beaten, no one getting abused, no one getting teased, no one crying. The book stresses on the other kind of bullying, the one that is much tougher to detect in real life and often passes unnoticed by adults: indirect or hidden bullying, which usually happens through behind-the-back gossip, rumour-mongering, or ignoring. As such bullying acts are not ‘loud’, the impact on the child is the same but the visibility is not that much. Tackling this kind of bullying is more important as the psychological impact is still high. As one line from the book says, “This kind of pain hurts a lot too.”

This atypical depiction of a bullying storyline changes the very manner in which most people view bullying, and that is the biggest contribution of this book – of making us notice what we usually don’t even look at as bullying.

The only thing that could have worked better for me was the choice of grammatical voice in certain parts. The second person ‘you’ works well to address the reader and the third person ‘he’ is also good in pointing towards the child who is bullied (though this isn’t apparent at the start; the illustrations deliberately throw us off on this aspect.) But the first person doesn’t fit into the flow. As the message is addressed to the reader, it should have retained ‘you’ throughout. (The text does help somewhat by writing the ‘I’ sections in red and the rest in black, but it is still abrupt in the current structure.) The continuity also felt a bit off in a couple of pages, especially when a line goes ‘The answer is…’ but there was no question asked. Compared to the admirable intent of the book, these minor negatives can be easily overlooked.

The book ends with a ‘Stand Up’ game that can be conducted by teacher and counsellors with any group of children. This game sounds brilliant, and will clearly highlight how many kids suffer from direct or indirect bullying. I hope it helps them to learn that they aren’t alone in the situation.

All in all, this picture book might have a simple approach, but it shows how even a single positive action can make a difference to someone who is bullied, and how we don’t need to physically fight a bully to fight bullying. In fact, the tactics discussed herein will work not just with those who face indirect bullying but also with those who are going through tough new changes such as being a new student in school or having parents going through a separation.

Definitely recommended. Though the book can be useful to everyone, it would work especially well as a classroom resource as the discussion might work better in a group situation. This would be a great option for children aged 6-10, though the lesson is without an age barrier.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via StoryOrigin. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.