February 28, 2018 is Pink Shirt Day. Based on the initiative of two Nova Scotia students, Pink Shirt Day encourages all of us to stand up to bullies. By collectively refusing to tolerate bullying and developing the skills to prevent it, children and adults can help to make the world a better place for themselves and others. To learn more about Pink Shirt Day visit pinkshirtday.ca.
Celebrate Pink Shirt Day in your classroom or library with Canadian kids’ books.
Picture Books |
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Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress Acceptance | Differences | Bullying | Imagination Morris loves using his imagination and he dreams about having space adventures. His favourite place in his classroom is the dress-up centre — because he loves wearing the tangerine dress! But the children in Morris’s class don’t understand. Dresses are for girls, astronauts don’t wear dresses! Warm, dreamy illustrations perfectly capture Morris’s vulnerability and the vibrancy of his imagination. This is a sweetly told story about the courage and creativity it takes to be different. This title is also available in French as Boris Brindamour et la robe orange. |
Willow Finds a Way Empowerment | Friendship | Role Models | Bullying Willow is thrilled when the whole class, including her, is invited to classmate Kristabelle’s fantastic birthday party. But the bossy birthday girl starts crossing guests off the list when they dare to cross her. Willow finds a quiet, but convincing, way to let Kristabelle know her behaviour is not acceptable. This is the companion to Willow’s Whispers. |
Junior & Intermediate Fiction |
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Kings of the Court Basketball | Team Spirit | Diversity | Teamwork | Drama | Sports | Bullying The Gladiators are having a bad season. When the team’s coach gets fired midseason for bullying, they haven’t won a single game and morale is at rock bottom. Sameer, scorekeeper, and Vijay, team mascot, work hard to keep the team’s spirits up, especially since the replacement coach is a Shakespeare fanatic who doesn’t know a jump shot from a fast break! |
Run Running | Bullying | Self-Esteem | Friendship | Determination | Fears Lionel lives a lonely life in the shadows, staying invisible to avoid attracting the attention of bullies at school and at home. Then he discovers running. He is invited to join the track team and, even more surprisingly, he begins to make friends. Lionel desperately wants to be happy, even if it means doing the unthinkable — leaving the shadows forever. |
Young Adult Fiction |
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All the Rage Shame | Silence | Community | Rape | Denial | Bullying | Power The truth about Kellan Turner has cost Romy everything — friends, family and community. Bullied and branded a liar, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works. But when a girl goes missing and Romy learns of another assault, she must make a choice. Nobody believed her the first time, and nothing has changed, but is the cost of her silence more than she can bear? |
The Disappearance Mystery | Friendship | Supernatural | Bullying | Loss | Violence Tragic circumstances throw two boys — Mike, disfigured and guilt-ridden by his brother’s death, and Jacob, and elective mute who is isolated, withdrawn and bullied — together in a group home. An unlikely friendship develops but when Jacob finally speaks, he seems to know everything about Mike, including what happened to his brother. Who is Jacob and where does he come from? Mike is determined to find out. |
Non-Fiction |
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To This Day: For the Bullied and Beautiful Poetry | Bullying | Memoir | Anger | Self-Esteem | Acceptance Spoken-word artist Shane Koyczan electrified the world with his passionate anti-bullying poem, which went viral on YouTube. Now his poem has been adapted into a powerful and visually arresting book with illustrations by 30 international artists. Each page is a vibrant collage of images, colours and words that will resonate with anyone who has experienced bullying, whether as a victim, observer or participant. |
We Want You to Know: Kids Talk About Bullying Bullying | Bullying in Schools | Anti-Bullying Programs In this thoughtful and candid book, author Deborah Ellis asks students aged nine to 19 to talk about their experiences with bullying. The kids raise questions about the way parents, teachers and school administrators cope with bullies as well as which methods have helped them and which have not. Some students reveal how they have overcome their fear to become advocates for the rights of others. A teacher’s guide is available online at www.coteaubooks.com. |
Professional Resource for Teachers |
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The Bully-Go-Round: Literacy and Arts Strategies for Promoting Bully Awareness in the Classroom Bullying | Literacy | The Arts This book advocates the use of various literacy and arts strategies to promote bullying awareness and aid teachers and students alike in reaching a better understanding of the issues that surround bullying. This handy flipbook includes more than 35 class activities, along with resource lists and discussion prompts. It has been written for teachers of Grades 4 to 12. |
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