Children's Book Review: Bully Bear by Thomas and Peter Weck, Illus by Len DiSalvo

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from KSB Promotions, for review purposes. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.




This week we'll be talking about some great new kids books that teach important lessons!

Synopsis: In the kingdom of Beandom, Bully Bean is feared. He makes fun of other beans, plays mean tricks, and puts others in danger. Lima Bear is Bully Bean's favorite bean to pick on, perhaps because Lima Bear is the only bean with green fur and is always helping others. But what happens when Bully Bean is in danger? What will Lima Bear and his friends do? Will they run away? Will they rescue him? 

Children and their parents will discover that Lima Bear actually "helps" the bully. And in doing so he and his friends "turn the bully into a friend." Bully Beanpresents a great message for children and a conversation starter for parents with their children about bullying. This is the 5th in the Lima Bear Stories Series....each book includes a message for children and Extend the Learning pages to put that message into practice.

Each picture book in the Lima Bear Stories series delivers messages for children to help them handle everyday situations with siblings and friends, including tolerance, honesty, and courage. Basic characters, each with their own distinct personality, appear and reappear throughout the series, allowing children to get to know them and anticipate how they are likely to act in different situations. Extended learning and activity questions are included to allow parents and teachers to further encourage children to become involved in the concepts presented.

Review: We had not read nay of the previous books in the series, but Miss Grace had been very attuned to the anti-bullying messages she heard over the Summer on the kids programming channels, so I thought it would be a great book to review with her. She asked lots of questions while reading the book, and shared examples from school.  I was happy that the book taught forgiveness and carrying, a these were principles that our pastor had spoken with just the week before, and that her school stresses as well.

I was thrilled the next day, when she informed me that she had went and gotten the teacher as soon as she realized the boys in class were picking on the new boy, for no reason. Obviously I was not happy that it happened at ALL to the child, but happy that the GIRLS realized it was bullying and at my daughter's insistence got the teacher to stop it immediately before the child got hurt. The teacher handled the incident well, and I was happy to learn she spoke with the girls directly, telling them they had done the right thing.

The book also has an extended learning section after the book itself, that includes talking about the story, and the child's feelings, and activities like working with homophones, making comparisons and learning about caves. This section is great for parents to learn how to increase the teachings of the book.  It is followed by a letter from Thomas to his son Peter, that talks about how the series began and was very interesting to Miss Grace!

We highly recommend this book and for you to check out the rest of the series! 


About the Authors: 
Thomas Weck is a national award-winning author and coauthor of the Lima Bear Stories series of children’s books. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware. 

Peter Weck is a board member of the Menlo Park Library Foundation, the CEO of StoryJumper, and the coauthor of the Lima Bear Stories series. He lives in Atherton, California. 

About the Illustrator:
Len DiSalvo is an animator and illustrator for a wide range of print projects and award-winning computer games. He teaches art illustration and animation at the Art Center Design College. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.