Don't Be a Bully, Billy

Cautionary Tales

by Phil Roxbee Cox

Everyone has told Billy to stop picking on his neighbors and classmates, but he just will not listen until it is too late.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

24 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2004

Reviews

[Yasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Don’t be a Bully Billy’ is a story about a young boy who goes around bullying his classmates. The story has been written in a rhythmic way, where Billy kicks Kevin, pushes Peter, chases Charlie, picks on Paula, threatens Theo…. until he decides to bully a new boy who deals with him in an unexpected way! It is a cautionary tale to warn children about the consequences of their actions; a book to make bullies think twice about bullying again!
I read this book to my Year One class in SBT1 during Anti Bullying Week. This book was incorporated into the literacy lessons for the whole week. It was used to describe and explain the different types of bullying: physical; emotional; verbal. Pupils responded well to the book and also took part in mini role-plays, based on different scenarios from the book, to describe their feelings (as a victim of bullying) and come up with solutions on how to tackle bullying. I have mixed feelings about the ending of the story however, which gives of the message of ‘what goes around comes around’, which does not necessarily help equip a young ‘bully’ to change their ways.

[Claudia]

This book is about what will happen to you if you’re a bully. It follows the life of Billy and it shows how he is a bully to other students and they all hate him. At the end, there is a cool twist showing what happens to people who are bullies.
I liked this book because it was a good way to show students how bullying is bad. It wasn’t a typical book that teaches how bullying is bad. It was an interesting way to present the information and the ending would probably make a lot of students laugh.
This book would be perfect to teach students about bullying. It goes through a lot of different things that bullies do and that other people do not like. It also shows that if you bully people they will not like you and there will be consequences for you.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy Shyamalan twists, Batman!!

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Billy is a bully who both physically and verbally assaults his classmates continually. At the end of the story Billy bullies the newest classmate, Bob. Little does Billy know Bob is an alien and his big brother is right nearby waiting to step in.
This book got three strikes with me. First, and most problematic is the “solution” to Billy’s bullying problem. It holds no real lesson to make it valuable to either bullies or the bullied. I could’ve lived with the alien abduction if there had also been some sort of solution worked to by the students, or if we had seen Billy learn from the abduction and change his ways to start acting with kindness and apologize. But we just got an alien abduction, something maybe kids who have been bullied would dream of but could never happen. Second, I did not like the writing style with repetitive alliteration such as “Billy kicked Kevin. Kicked Kevin said ‘Billy don’t be a bully!’” I felt it was confusing for the children I was reading to to keep track of what was happening, and it gives a choppy feel to reading. Plus alliteration with character names is kind of cheap/lazy most of the time, in my opinion. Finally, the illustrations of the teacher who was clearly never paying attention, and never addressed in any way (and also sporting some 5 o’clock shadow?) painted the teacher as someone who the kids couldn’t go to for help-definitely not a great lesson.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay -- I wasn't expecting that.

This was an awesome way to deal with bullies, metaphorically speaking. And, since bullies never stop bullying unless they meet with a bigger bully than they are, the only way.

This might have been written more for adults than kids, but kids are smart enough to get it.

The illustrator added more to the story than the text hints at. There is an exhausted-looking teacher with a tie and five o'clock shadow. Would love to know the backstory on him. There is also a lovely little white and black dog that shadows all of this goings-on. He's even featured on the cover.

Can't help but wonder if he's supposed to represent, as a watchdog, justice.

[Jenger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts out great & is really cute but I was so disappointed in the ending. I’d love to use it to teach about bullying, and I’m sure it could still be used with modifications, but the implausible end just doesn’t work for a true teaching moment. I’d prefer not to have young children think the lesson of the story is that bullies will be carried away by aliens. With a different ending this could have been a perfect way to address bullying with young children. Perhaps I’ll just use it that way - let the children brainstorm a better and more appropriate ending.

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book and extremely underrated for its fantastic use of alliteration (i.e. 'picked-on Paula pleaded'). There is so much potential in it for kids to gain awareness of letter-sound relationship (i.e. those tricky vowels can be emphasised in Billy and Bully). Plus it is really fun to read as the reader. It is a bit of a harsh ending for young kids, but most kids understand that it is just a story and supposed to be funny. Thanks for a great book Phil! :)

[Eliot Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read! Page after page, Billy picks on the kids at school and is a very mean bully. His classmates repeatedly plead “don’t be a bully, Billy!” but he never stops. In the end, Billy picks on the wrong kid, Bob, who introduces him to his big brother, an alien in a ufo! Billy’s schoolmates refuse to save him, and as he’s abducted by the ufo, they all shout “bye-bye Billy!”

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like how no adults in this book step in to stop the bullying. I don't like how the children in this book don't involve adults to help stop the bullying. While the book has a good ending in the end, it seems like much of the book the bully is winning.

[Ankaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Αποτυχημένη προσπάθεια να παρουσιάσει ενα ηθικό δίδαγμα κ κυρίως για μικρά παιδιά...

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and ridiculous approach to addressing a bully.

[Taylor Richarsdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Don't Be a Bully, Billy
Author: Phil Roxbee Cox
Plot: This plot is chronological in telling a story about something mean Billy does to one of his classmates each day.
Characters: Billy is a round character, while his classmates and peers are flat characters.
Main Conflict: Billy cannot be nice to his peers, he always says rude or ugly things to his classmates and therefore doesn't have any friends. Character against character.
Main Theme: The main theme of this story is explicit. It is that you will not make friends by being ugly or mean to people. And being ugly and mean will truly get you no where in life.
Describe the Authors Style: This author used alliteration as her main writing style
Point of View: This book is written in third person.
Design and Layout: I really enjoyed the design and layout of this book. On each page, the largest words were 'Don't be a bully, Billy!' when Billy's classmates would yell at him for being mean. The large text and alliteration really made the book come to life.
Lessons and Standards: One lesson that could be taught would be a lesson about alliteration to work on standard RL.2.4, Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story or poem. Another idea for a lesson with this book could be to use it as a tool in a discussion about bullying to work on standard PD.4.C.6, Evaluate Arkansas laws and their impact on students, bullying, local ordinances, penalties for juvenile activity, penalties for truancy, requirements for obtaining and grounds for revocation of a driver's license.
Overall Assessment: This is a great tool for the classroom for many reasons. I love the eye catching pictures and ear catching language that is used throughout the story. Alliteration is one of my favorite types of figurative language.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cerita dalam buku ini mengajarkan perilaku pada anak. Dengan kata-kata yang simpel dan ilustrasi yang menarik, akan sangat disuka anak. Cocok juga untuk dibacakan pada anak-anak yang lebih kecil dan belum mampu membaca sendiri. Kata-kata yang diulang dapat diucapkan bersama anak. Seru!

Billy adalah bully. Dia suka membully teman-temannya. Setiap hari di sekolah Billy memukul, merampas, menarik rambut, dan mengganggu teman-temannya. Semua memohon, "Jangan membully, Billy!" tapi Billy tidak peduli.

Setiap hari ada saja yang dibully oleh Billy. Dan suatu hari sepulang sekolah, Billy mengikuti seorang anak baru di sekolah, namanya Bob. Di tempat yang sepi, Billy merampas bola Bob, dan Bob berkata, "Jangan membully, Billy! Kembalikan itu bola milikku!"

Billy menjawab, "Coba saja paksa aku."

Dan Bob menjawab santai, "Oh, tidak perlu. Kenalkan tuh abangku." Bob menunjuk ke langit. Billy menoleh dan sesuatu yang mengejutkan menantinya di atas sana. Haha! Endingnya memang nggak disangka banget, tapi saya rasa cukup bisa membuat anak-anak mikir dua kali kalau mau jadi bully :D

[Michaela Puglisi · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Don't Be a Bully, Billy" is a fun, short picture book about a boy named Billy who is bullying his classmates. The author used a simple alliteration technique to make the story more playful for a younger audience. Billy continues to bully his classmates until the end of the story when Billy is taught a lesson by another student's older brother. This book offers a lighthearted way to approach the situation of bullying if it is occurring in a class. It would be interesting to do an activity with students to see what their take is on dealing with bullies in a polite manner. This book is an easy read but it approaches a delicate situation which I think is important when dealing with topics such as bullying.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains a great message but has a very strong ending. I would say that the ending is not appropriate for the situation and may cause fear in a child who doesn't understand the difference between real and make believe. You can purchase this book at my Independent Consultant site: www.ubah.com/s2995

[Brittney · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Don't Be a Bully Billy" is a story about a young boy who bullies all of his classmates. He is always mean to them, but when he needs help they simply let it go. Karma.
I would use this in a young classroom, showing students what happens when they bully each other.

[Jodi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bizarre ending. But you could use it for a unit on bullying and have students come up with ways to deal with the bully.