At exactly 8am on Monday, November 15th, The Big March begins on Beatbullying’s
website and is spotlighted on YouTube’s homepage. Led by the very cool and
compassionate Bishop Desmond Tutu and supported by over 750,000 people, The Big
March will cross 60 websites, including MTV, JLS, MSN, Action for Children,
Stardoll, Children England, Netmums, AOL, Orange, and Girlguiding UK.
Together we are raising a voice to ask our Government to protect our children
from bullying, harassment and intimidation by their peers.
You can follow the route here: http://www.beatbullying.org./
If you would like to make a donation to Beatbullying, please click here:
http://www.beatbullying.org/dox/what-you-can-do/i-would-like-to-give-now.html
The Silence Seeker by Ben Morley
As part of Anti Bullying week I thought I would do a book review. This book, I feel helps raise the issue of
racial bullying and will hopefully help stop it.
Description:- When a new family moves in next door, Joe’s mum explains that they are asylum seekers. Joe hears that they are silence seekers, especially as Mum adds that they need peace and quiet. When he sees a young boy from the family sitting disconsolately on the steps, Joe decides to help him find a quiet place in the noisy and chaotic city.
Review:- My three year old loves this book. He asks lots of questions about why the boy is there? Why is is looking for Silence? Why he had to go away? He doesn’t ask anything about the colour of their skin or anything like that. And it will stay that way.
I think this is a great book to introduce pre-schoolers and early primary children to different cultures and backgrounds in a fun and easy to understand way. That you can play with anyone, no matter where they come from or what they look like.
The illustrations are great. They fit in with city life, from the busy road to the houses and the down-in-outs. I love the way Joe calls older kids “Biggies” and “Up to no goods”.
The ending gives me shivers, the way he says that everything goes silent just for a minute. Also how kind Joe is sharing his sandwich. I just simply love this book.
I would recommend this to anyone with young children, even older ones can learn from it. And I look forward to reading more from Ben Morley.
Thank you to Tamarind Books for producing such amazing books and for sending me this book.
Head over to Asamum Booktopia for information about Bullying and a list of blogs participating in this march.
This post is protected under copyright. SusankMann 2009 – 2014
This is such a worthy cause, like the campaigners are saying, online bullying should be a criminal offence.
Thank you so much for the brilliant post. Lovely that there are childrens books that show understanding and compassion. Values we could all do with reiterating at some points.Thanks again for all your wonderful support *hugs*
Thanks for the nice review.
Wonderful review! Ben Morley is not only a terrific author, but an inspiring teacher and a swell guy! I have had such a lift from reading this. Thank you. Sarah
Thank you for your comment Sarah. x