A tattle-tell tale. A story about getting help.

by Kathryn Cole

illustrated by Qin Leng

Age range: 6 to 10 years old.

Joseph had a terrible week at school. A seven grader has been bulling him every day at lunch time. He took Joseph's brownie on Monday, and his sandwich and cookies on Tuesday. He found Joseph hiding in the boy's restroom on Wednesday and took his lunch again. On Thursday Joseph ate his lunch in the schoolyard. He even tried to explain his problem to the yard-duty teacher, but it didn't work. She was too busy solving other problems there. His friends would like to help Joseph, but they are scared too.

Now he is standing at the principal's office door. He knows he must do something to stop being bullied, and Mr. Tate has told the students many times that they could come to him anytime. He finally knocks at the door and tells Mr. Tate the whole story. He is afraid of being in more trouble since he tattled, but Mr. Tate explains to him the difference between tattle and tell, and helps him to fix the situation.

Once again a difficult topic has an excellent approach in this series. The situation is clearly explained, specially how Joseph feels and how difficult could seem to ask for help, but how everything starts moving in the right direction once he shares his problems with someone who can help him. At the end of the book there's a guide for grown ups with tips on how to help kids feeling comfortable asking for help.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another great titles in this series: The uh-oh feeling. A story about touch and Sign up here. A story about friendship.