Willow Finds a Way

by Lana Button, Tania Howells

Overview

Willow is thrilled the whole class -- including her! -- is invited to classmate Kristabelle’s fantastic birthday party, until the bossy birthday girl starts crossing guests off the list when they dare cross her. There are many books on bullying, but Willow’s story offers a unique look at how to handle the situation as a bystander.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771380850
Publisher:	Kids Can Press
Publication date:	03/01/2013
Series:	Willow
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	25 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Lana Button works in early childhood education. Her writing has been published in Ladybug magazine and Today’s Parent. Willow’s Whispers is Lana’s first book for Kids Can Press.

Editorial Reviews

Shy Willow stands up to a mean girl in her primary-grade classroom. Kristabelle is the boss of the class that Willow is in, and when she invites everyone to her birthday party, Willow is thrilled. But if a classmate won't sit at her lunch table or play what she wants at recess, she will cross them off her birthday list. Mateo won't give up his turn as Line Leader, so Kristabelle crosses him off; Julian won't wear pink when Kristabelle demands it, so the blonde, curly-headed girl crosses him off, too. Willow then bravely crosses her own name off, and so do all her friends, leaving Kristabelle alone. But Willow sits with the formerly mean girl when no one else will. Kristabelle apologizes to the whole class, and everyone comes to her party and has a fine time. The illustrations, brightly colored on white backgrounds, with figures sketched in the simplest of lines and dots, depict an ethnically mixed classroom of children. Putting aside the sexism inherent in only boys being blacklisted (or at least, the only ones willing to stand up to Kristabelle), it's all too easily resolved, even for the second-graders this seems to be aimed at. There is meanness and bullying at every level in schools, and it needs to be addressed in stories as well as in real life, but they must be honest stories in which the lesson does not outweigh the tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews