Just a Bully

Little Critter

by Mercer Mayer, Gina Mayer

When a vicious bully targets Little Sister, Little Critter sets out to defend her, making him the focus of the bully's nasty pranks, until Little Sister and Little Critter join forces to stand up for themselves. Original.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Kids, Family, Animals, Friendship, School

24 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

Mercer Mayer is an American children's author and illustrator. He has published over 300 books, using a wide range of illustrative styles. Mayer is best known for his Little Critter and Little Monster series of books.

Reviews

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

I generally like the Little Critter Books, but this is definitely not one of my favorites. My kids like it, but I am not sure I like the message it presents. Not only do Little Critter and his sister solve their problem by fighting the bully, but then they show aggression back towards the bully, in essence becoming bullies themselves. As a teacher, I also am not a fan of how the teacher in the book is portrayed as not doing enough to deal with the issue of the bully. Every time I read it to my kids, I take the time to discuss with them the better choices that Little Critter and his sister could have made to better deal with the situation.

[J9 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another little critters book my 5 yr old loved! He's starting to pick these up whenever we go to the library. This one he read to his younger brothers and even they enjoyed it. Probably only a level 1 reading level, it was still a cute story and worth getting to encourage reading.

[Lauren Vallee · Rating 5 out of 5]

@jeff :(

[Cassie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not care for this book. The part I have trouble with is when Little Critter beats the bully up and then the little sister shoves the bully.

I just don't think that I want my five year old to think it's ok to hit people-even when they are mean to him. As we were reading it we talked about what kind of choices Little Critter could make instead of hitting the bully.

Most of the Little Critter books are so good. I was surprised that this one was so contrary to what I would teach my children.

We've actually had this book for awhile but it recently resurfaced. I think I'll make sure it doesn't resurface again. It's Curtains for Critter!

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made me a little uncomfortable. Not sure violence is the way to handle a bully...

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love the critter books but am not sure about this one. Ari likes it but the message is that beating people up is awesome if they are a bully and I am not really okay with that.

[Hannah Parks · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Just a Bully" by Gina and Mercer Mayer is a childrens picture book about a bullying situation within school. The trouble begins when our main characters little sister is being bullied by a crocodile on the play ground. When the older brother stands up for his sister, the bully begins to target him in school. The bully pulls the brothers hair, flicks him with rubber bands, and calls him names. The situation escalates when the bully breaks the main characters science project and begins to push him. After a fight breaks out, both the bully and the brother are scolded. On the bus, the bully begins to pursue the brother again, but the sister sticks up for him, and the bully walks away defeated.

This book deals with an incredibly difficult subject matter: bullying. Many, if not most, children face bullies at some point in their school years and for some, if impacts their lives drastically. Bullying can result in lowered grades, happiness, school retention rates, and school morale. Because of this, I believe that teaching children about bullying from a young age is extremely beneficial for the wellbeing of our school communities. However, this book looks at bullying from what I believe to be an outdated standpoint. The way our protagonists get their bully to stop picking on them is simply to resort to bullying him back. Near the end of the story, after the bully and older brother engage in a physical fight, the sister pushes the bully and calls him a "fathead." It was this particular instance of bullying that put the nail in this books coffin for me. Name calling is not appropriate in any situation, and because the protagonists of this story solve their problem in this manner, it teaches children that bullying a bully is acceptable. For this reason, I would not use this book in my curriculum unless I followed our read aloud by prompting the question, "how could our main characters have handled this situation better?" Then I would provide my students with more appropriate ways to deter bullies and create a positive classroom environment.

[Kaylee Mouser]

This story is about a boy named Lupi who is getting bullied. The story tells real life scenarios of how bullies are and what can sometimes happen. In this story Lupi got in trouble for something his bully did because the teacher didn't believe him. He was angry, sad and upset, but he decided to talk to his friends. His friend told him he needed to be brave, and be strong. He decided to stand up to his bully, billy. Except when he went to do this, Billy was with his older brother Bobby, where Lupi witnessed Bobby bullying billy. This is when it started to make sense, Lupi realized why he was so mean. So he decided to help billy. Because of this act of kindness, he stopped being a bully. This is a very cute story for kids to help them understand how to deal with bullies. I didn't care for the illustrations, they were kind of boring to me, they were too cartoon-like, and lacked composition and texture. The story was my favorite, the illustrations were okay just not the best.

[Libby Forgues · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrator: Mercer Mayer
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Golden Books; First Edition (October 22, 1999)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0307132005

This book is great to integrate since it shows a solid message that "Bullies" should be confronted and not allowed to continue bullying without consequences. At some point in a child's life, they are going to experience a bully and this is a good way to introduce how to reach when you or someone else is getting bullied. In the book it promotes using violence but I think this would add to the discussion on what not to do and how that might make everyone feel in the situation.

[Samantha Ocampo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved these little critter books because each one of them teaches something that a child could go through. I thought this picture book about a bully was good because it teaches the readers to stand up for yourself and those that you love. While I think the authors could have approached the confrontation to the bully differently, I thought they described what others might feel as well. I also really liked the authors illustrations because they helped describe what was going on and the emotions with each character.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was so much that went wrong in this book, The premise was old school literally, but in school now, The over reaction by teachers and schools, the whole bully thing just wouldn't go down like in the book. also if your kid fights back, the police might be brought in. I hate that society has gone the way it has, but this book just wont fit like it used too. besides that this was still a good read.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe it is an old fashioned message, but LC sticks up for himself against a bully who was picking on his little sister, and then the bully leaves him alone. I love the camaraderie of the siblings in this story!~

[Kaylee Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Mercer Mayer and Gina Mayer
Illustrator: Mercer Mayer and Gina Mayer
ISBN-13: 9780307132000

Summary: Little Critter defends his sister when she is getting bullied. He becomes the bully's target and the two siblings join together to stand up for themselves.

[Natalie Weyrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a good message to kids. Give a message if they are getting bullied to not tell a teacher, to pretend to be sick to avoid going to school, and then to solve their problems with the bully with fighting.

[IUS F19 ERIC WISE · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to read to kids to teach them to stand up for themselves and for others against bullies.

[Lawrence Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book details what bullying can look like. Although it shows that fighting the bully kind of resolves the issue, it shows that sticking up for yourself can stop a bully from bothering you.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer books where the author has the characters trying to be nice to and make friends with bullies. But this book about defending yourself and others from bullies was good too.

[Lara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a favorite and has not aged well.
We will skip this one next time.

[Sydney Kalacinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talks about bullying and can be used as an example of how to not respond to bullies.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the critter stories. This is a story about sticking up for yourself against bullies. It's important for others to have your back and adults to be aware of the situation.

[Tori Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Just a Bully" is a heartwarming and thought-provoking book that encourages readers to stand up against bullying and choose kindness and compassion instead. It's a must-read for children, parents, and educators alike, offering valuable lessons in empathy, resilience, and friendship.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

In one of Mercer Mayer's more socially confrontational picture books, we see Little Critter and his sister react under fire to the frequent admonition of their parents that they should "always stick up for each other." When a bully of her very own latches onto Little Sister at school, Little Critter stands up to the mean young gator, only to have this approach backfire as the bully forgets about Little Sister and shifts focus to harassing Little Critter every moment of the school day. If the bully refuses to let up, can Little Critter ever feel secure at school again?

The bully is a lot bigger than Little Sister, and Little Critter knows from the start that it's no fair fight. But the antagonistic gator is also too big for Little Critter, so there's not much he can do to stop him when the bully makes him his new target. The bully shoots rubber bands at him, trips him in the hallway, calls him bad names, and wrecks a school project Little Critter worked hard to complete. Informing the teacher of the bullying only worsens the situation. Now Little Critter fears returning to school, and when he does, his scaly-skinned bully is waiting to start a scuffle with him. There may be no recourse for Little Critter but to raise his small fists and try to mount a passable physical defense of himself, but that's not likely to work out well for anyone. The bully may never change his mind and attitude about pushing around those littler than himself, but pushback from an unexpected source could at least level the playing field, if it's a source to which the bully has no effective answer. Bullies can be ruthless and crush one's spirit; they can force their victim underground so he or she doesn't ever safe resurfacing, but the proper support can keep a bully at bay and remind the harangued that all can still be good after the trauma. Rainclouds move on and the sky sparkles cerulean again, and we might almost forget we ever were bullied. Like Little Critter, revel in your surprise reinforcements when they come, keep looking up, and this too shall pass.

The subtext of Just a Bully's illustrations is worth a mention, though not every reader will catch it. For most Little Critter stories, there's a mouse hidden (or not-so-hidden) in every picture, but in Just a Bully the mouse plays a sidebar role in the narrative. The mouse has its own mouse bully to contend with, one who mimics the gator bully's tactics against Little Critter to push around the mouse, whose reactions to the intimidation mirror Little Critter's. It's a relief to see Little Critter and the mouse both get out from under their bullies' thumbs by the end of the book. Their intertwining stories are a great touch, and I consider Just a Bully one of Mercer Mayer's better books. I would give it two and a half stars, and considered going higher. I sincerely recommend this to readers of any age.

[Zoe Austin]

Golden Books; First Edition (October 22, 1999)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0307132005
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0307132000

Just a Bully by Mercer Mayer offers a straightforward story about dealing with bullies, providing a simple lesson on standing up for oneself. It could be useful in a classroom setting to spark discussions about empathy and conflict resolution.

[Slayermel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book that the children at work want read over and over again. They are fascinated with the bully and why he's bothering the little critter. The children can't wait to get to the part where the bully calls the little critter "Fathead", it's like they can't believe he just said that.
I really like how it goes through the stages of bullying though. Starting with the little critter sticking up for his sister, then himself becoming the target. Having things said to and thrown at him by the bully, telling the teacher and the bullying getting worse, until it ends up in a fight. I think some children can really relate to this, especially some of my older Kindergarten aged children.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. Sometimes I wish the natural consequences would be allowed to occur to deal with bullies, but society doesn't let that happen anymore. That is the way Mercer Mayer allows the problem to be solved. As I read this book to my kindergartner, I wondered what lessons she was gleaning as to how to solve bully problems and I wasn't so comfortable letting her think she could be mean back. So, it's a toss-up for me as to how I received this book. I guess I'll just mark it in the middle at 3.

[Gina Erb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since the age of 3-4 I, personally have always been a big fan when it comes to the Little Critter book series. Just a Bully is a personal favorite. The book starts out with the little critter sticking up for his sister who was being bullied by another kid at school. Only that lead to the two of them (the brother and bully) getting into a fight. In the end the little sister ended up standing up to bully for her big brother. The illustrations within the book are awesome. It gives young readers a great life lesson about bullying and how to stand up for themselves.

[Kaitlyn Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that all of the The Little Critter books would be great to have in a classroom and this one being no exception. There is some controversy with this book because at the end, they end up fighting the bully and you don't want kids thinking that it's okay to fight violence with violence. I think the best way to go about that is to read this book to the kids before letting them read it on their own. Then having a discussion with them about the proper way to handle a situation like that, because all of them are going to come into something like that at some point.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose to read this book because I know that bullying is still a big problem in today's school systems. This book is written very well. The only downside I see from this problem/solution book is the solution. Although everything is very realistic, I don't agree with the way the problem was solved with the way the little sister pushes the bully and yells at him to stop. Even though this did seem to work, becoming the bully yourself is never the answer.

[Jen Chinn]

In Just A Bully, Little Critter and his sister must stand up to a big bully. At first, Little Critter is only defending his sister, but when the bully begins to torment Little Critter, the two siblings team up to stand up to the bully's mean tactics. This book teaches students to stand up for others who cannot always stand up for themselves.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book. Little Critter physically fights back to deal with a bully. Both boys are hurt; neither one receives any consequences. I wouldn't encourage this particular Mercer Mayer book.