Words can hurt–books can help.

It’s a sad reality–children with and without disabilities are often the target of name-calling and bullying in our schools and in our communities.  That’s why the No Name-Calling Week campaign is important.  By providing tools and inspiration, this project kick-starts dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying and name-calling of all kinds in communities across the country.

No Name-Calling Week was actually inspired by a book–The Misfits by James Howe.  It’s a story about four middle school students who feel like outsiders in their own community.  They band together and decide to create their own political party with the platform of eliminating all name-calling from their school.  Motivated by this message, the No Name-Calling Week Coalition was created by GLSEN and Simon & Schuster Children’s publishing.  Together, they organized an actual No Name-Calling Week in schools across the country. Since then, No Name-Calling Week is recognized each year to bring attention to this all-too-important topic.

I often think of a good book as a good friend, and I know so many of the kids that we serve feel the same way.  But if a child is being bullied, a book may be the only friend that child has.  Because of this, books about bullying and with characters that are being bullied have an important place on our shelves–they let children know that they aren’t alone.  Here’s a selection of books and websites that can help educate and provide hope to those children that need it.

What is YOUR library doing to call attention to No-Name Calling Week?  For a little inspiration, check out these amazing stories from the Danville Public Library and the Howard County Library System.

Non-Fiction

• We Want You To Know: Kids Talk About Bullying by Deborah Ellis
• Freaks, Geeks, and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence by Luke Jackson
• A Smart Kid’s Guide to Online Bullying by David Jakubiak
• Bullies to Buddies: How to Turn Your Enemies into Friends by Izzy Kalman
• Stop Bullying Bobby: Helping Children Cope with Teasing and Bullying by Dana Smith-Mansell
• Nobody Knew What to Do: A Story About Bullying by Becky McCain
• Bullies are a Pain in the Brain by Trevor Romain
• Bullying and Me: Schoolyard Stories by Ouisie Shapiro

Picture Books

• Lucy and the Bully by Claire Alexander
• Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Bullies by Howard Binkow
• Jehu’s Shoes by Jehu Brown
• Simon’s Hook: A Story About Teases and Put-downs by Karen Gedig Burnett
• Bully B.E.A.N.S. by Julia Cook
• Bird Child by Nan Forler
• How the Moon Regained Her Shape by Janet Ruth Heller
• Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell
• Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig
• My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig
• The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
• One by Kathryn Otoshi
• Don’t Laugh at Me by Steve Seskin
• The Juice Box Bully: Empowering Kids to Stand Up For Others by Bob Sornson

Fiction

• The PS Brothers by Maribeth Boelts
• Gifted by Beth Evangelista
• The Other Felix by Keir Graff
• Better than Weird by Anna Kerz
• Confessions of a Former Bully by Trudy Ludwig
• Max Quigley: Technically Not a Bully by James Roy
• Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet by Graham Salisbury
• Super Emma by Sally Warner

Websites

• ALA – Speak OUT Against Bullying
• Bullying and the Special Needs Child
• Internet Safety – Cyberbullying and Cyberstalking
• National Crime Prevention Council
• StopBullying.gov
• Spread the Word to End the Word
• Talk With Your Child About Bullying – National Alliance for Parent Centers
• Walk A Mile in Their Shoes: Bullying and the Child with Special Needs