Review: Dealing with Bullies Using Metaphor
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 13, 2013
Mean Kids Cannot Get Your Goat If They Don't Know Where It's Tied has a positive message regarding how to deal with bullies, aka mean kids. Geared specifically toward younger children, ages 4-9, the overall message of not allowing the words of others to cause an emotional response in front of those causing harm is a good one. However, even though the analogy of not letting anyone "get your goat" is explained immediately, it's a little hard to follow. I felt like I needed to remind myself that the emotions were the goat over and over. The book itself introduces great ways of dealing with bullies, like pretending you don't hear them or saying a nice thing in response to a rude comment, but the analogy gets old quickly with the continued repetition. The conversational tone of the narrator is helpful to imparting the main advice: others can only make you feel bad if you allow them to make you feel that way. The illustrations are a little cheesy and distracting, but they get the point across. This book is great for younger children dealing with mean classmates, but it should be accompanied with a conversation about why bullies act the way they do (insecurity, lack of control in their home lives, etc.) so the child doesn't feel like he or she is personally responsible for the bullying (a point not made in the book). Overall, the book is effective for what it strives to accomplish, and is a quick read.