Synopses & Reviews
How to foil a bully's tacticsMyrtle is happy. Her mom loves her. Her dad loves her. Her baby brother loves her. She has a good life -- until Frances moves next door. Frances does not love Myrtle, and she makes it her mission to keep Myrtle miserable. She makes mean signs, sings mean songs, and says mean things. It comes to the point when Myrtle is afraid to play outside. Then Aunt Tizzy comes to visit, fresh from an African safari, and she has some very good pointers to share with Myrtle, learned from keeping the lions at bay.
Exuberant and funny, Pearson's story and pictures will resound for any child who's encountered a mean mouse like Frances.
Review
"Sweet and empowering...Pearson tackles the common and serious problem of bullying with a refreshingly light touch...Delightful." -- Starred,
Publishers Weekly "Pearson uses a fruit-colored palette with lots of design work to showcase her delightful mouse characters, brimming with personality. The many preschoolers coming up against a hostile child for the first time will take heart from this." -- Booklist
"The lively illustrations are the perfect foil for the text: Frances is depicted as appropriately sly without being terrifying, subtly illustrating Pearson's point that a bully's roar is often worse than its bite." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Endearing...Myrtle's face is full of expression, and children will easily connect with her feelings of happiness and despair." -- School Library Journal
"Pearson manages simultaneous humor and pathos in Myrtle's countenance and deliciously ratty snobbery in Frances...Myrtle's tale of woe is bound to find many a sympathetic ear, and her defeat of Frances will give great satisfaction to those beleaguered by their own bullies." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
About the Author
Tracey Campbell Pearson is the author and illustrator of many children's books, including Bob. She lives in Jericho Center, Vermont.