RSS

Red by Jan de Kinder Book Review

Red by Jan de Kinder Book
Publisher: Eerdman's Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 9, 2015

What do you do when you see one of your classmates blushing on the playground? A little girl laughs along with her friends as the teasing goes too far. She is torn between sympathy and fear. How do we show compassion in a way that will not make you a target? And what do you do if you do become the target of a bully's anger?

What I loved about this story is that is that this isn't told from the perspective of the child being bullied, but rather the bystander. Often bullies focus on just one child, but bullies thrive off of public displays of cruelty and how does a child handle a situation when they are just a witness?

Obviously, this is a rather simplistic way in which to deal with this issue, but it is a great jumping off point to create deeper discussion between parents and their children regarding a topic that all kids will have to deal with eventually. De Kinder's fantastic illustrations using charcoal, ink, pencil, acrylic, and collage are perfect for the story being told here. The red takes on a life of its own until it is almost covering the page.



0 comments: