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By Hazel Campbell
By this point in the school year, the bullies will have established their
territory and there may well be many youngsters fearful of facing another day of
school and not knowing what to do about the bullying. If you have gone through
school without meeting a bully, lucky you.
In this story, the newcomer to the class, (grade 3?) a big boy named Kevin,
immediately begins to terrorize first, our protagonist, Jimmy, and then the
other children. Coupled with the sense of outrage is the feeling of
helplessness, which threatens to overwhelm Jimmy. If he tells the teacher, he
risks being branded as a tattletale, also an unwelcome situation.
Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories places Jimmy in a warm family setting
in multicultural South Florida, with his Jamaican grandpa being his main ally.
Geoffrey Philp cleverly uses an Anancy story - a Jamaican folk tale - recounted
by grandpa, to give Jimmy an idea on how to outsmart the bully, which he does to
the immense relief of himself and all the other children in the class. I have a
small personal problem with the solution as I would have liked to see some hint
of remorse and salvation for the bully at the end - but perhaps that is not
realistic.
Illustrations by the author's daughter (lucky him) enliven the story. This is
an entertaining story in its own right, and a story, which could be used in
classes to spark discussion on aspects of family life, as well as its main theme
– bullying, and get children to express their feelings about this.
A good read, and you get to meet Brer Anancy, if you didn't know him
before.
Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.
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