Looking for the best children’s books for bullying? These fun children’s books about bullying for elementary students are engaging for primary and upper elementary kids. Lesson plans and activities linked! Picture books about standing up to bullying, nonviolence, conflict resolution strategies and more to read aloud for your preschoolers, kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th grade students. Your students will delight in these classic and brand new books!
If you’re a member of the Picture Book Brain Trust Community, you already have access to EVERY lesson plan and activity for these books! Just click on the Lesson Plans button in the menu!
Oliver Button Is A Sissy by Tomie DePaola
Oliver Button is a sissy. At least that’s what the other boys call him. But here’s what Oliver Button really is: a reader, and an artist, and a singer, and a dancer, and more. What will his classmates say when he steps into the spotlight? A great anti bullying book.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Oliver Button Is A Sissy HERE
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Chrysanthemum thinks her name is absolutely perfect—until her first day of school. “You’re named after a flower!” teases Victoria. “Let’s smell her,” says Jo. Chrysanthemum wilts. What will it take to make her blossom again, and how will she learn to deal with bullies? A great book about names and one of my favorite back to school read alouds.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Chrysanthemum HERE
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
In our classroom safe and sound.
Fears are lost and hope is found.
Discover a school where all young children have a place, have a space, and are loved and appreciated.
Readers will follow a group of children through a day in their school, where everyone is welcomed with open arms. A school where students from all backgrounds learn from and celebrate each other’s traditions. A school that shows the world as we will make it to be. As students come back to school, they need to know that they’re safe, making this another one of my favorite September read alouds!
Julius Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes
The baby of the world is anything but that to his big sister—until Cousin Garland dares to criticize him. When baby Julius is born, his parents think he is just perfect. “Julius is the baby of the world,” they chime as they kiss him and admire him. But Lilly is Julius’s older sister, and she knows differently. “I am the queen,” says Lilly. “And I hate Julius.” Poor Julius. And poor Lilly, because her selfish behavior is making her miserable, too. Can anyone persuade Lilly that her brother really is the baby of the world? This funny picture book classic from the beloved Kevin Henkes explores sibling rivalry and children’s sometimes fragile self-esteem in a real and approachable way. Share this book during Social Emotional Learning time—with or without siblings, kids ages 3-7 will relate to the emotions and enjoy the story.
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
Teach kindness, courtesy, respect, and friendship: It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became neighborhood enemy number one. Luckily Dad had a surefire way to get rid of enemies: Enemy Pie. But part of the secret recipe is spending an entire day playing with the enemy! In this funny yet endearing story one little boy learns an effective recipe for turning a best enemy into a best friend.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Enemy Pie HERE
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
Each kindness makes the world a little better
This unforgettable book is written and illustrated by the award-winning team that created The Other Side and the Caldecott Honor winner Coming On Home Soon. With its powerful anti-bullying message and striking art, it will resonate with readers long after they’ve put it down.
Chloe and her friends won’t play with the new girl, Maya. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her friends, they reject her or bully her. Eventually Maya stops coming to school. When Chloe’s teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the lost opportunity for friendship, and thinks about how much better it could have been if she’d shown a little kindness toward Maya.
Get the lesson plan and activities for Each Kindness HERE
You Are Special by Max Lucado
In the town of Wemmickville there lives a Wemmick named Punchinello. Each day the residents award stickers―gold stars for the talented, smart, and attractive Wemmicks, and gray dots for those who make mistakes or are just plain ordinary. Punchinello, covered in gray dots, begins to feel worthless. These bullies don’t stop. Then one day he visits Eli the woodcarver, his creator, and he learns that his worth comes from a different source.
Get the lesson plan and activities for You Are Special HERE
The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad
With her new backpack and light-up shoes, Faizah knows the first day of school is going to be special. It’s the start of a brand new year and, best of all, it’s her older sister Asiya’s first day of hijab–a hijab of beautiful blue fabric, like the ocean waving to the sky. But not everyone sees hijab as beautiful, and in the face of the hurtful, confusing words of bullies, Faizah will find new ways to be strong.
My Name Is Bilal by Asma Mobin-Uddin
A young boy wrestles with his Muslim identity until a compassionate teacher helps him to understand more about his heritage.
After a family move, Bilal and his sister Ayesha attend a new school where they find out that they may be the only Muslim students there. Bilal sees his sister bullied on their first day of school, so he worries about being teased himself, thinking it might be best if his classmates didn’t know that he is Muslim. Maybe if he tells kids his name is Bill, rather than Bilal, then they will eave him alone. But when Bilal’s teacher Mr. Ali, who is also Muslim, sees how Bilal is struggling. He gives Bilal a book about the first person to give the call to prayer during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. That person was another Bilal: Bilal Ibn Rabah. What Bilal learns from the book forms the compelling story of a young boy grappling with his identity.
Get the lesson plan and activities for My Name Is Bilal HERE
The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig
A gentle story that teaches how small acts of kindness can help children feel included and allow them to flourish. A simple act of kindness can transform an invisible boy into a friend…
Meet Brian, the invisible boy. Nobody in class ever seems to notice him or think to include him in their group, game, or birthday party . . . until, that is, a new kid comes to class. When Justin, the new boy, arrives, Brian is the first to make him feel welcome. And when Brian and Justin team up to work on a class project together, Brian finds a way to shine.
The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
A fresh & original twist on the common issue of bullying. Kids will relate, & parents & teachers will appreciate the story’s deft handling of conflict resolution (which happens without adult intervention). Mean Jean was Recess Queen and nobody said any different. Nobody swung until Mean Jean swung.Nobody kicked until Mean Jean kicked. Nobody bounced until Mean Jean bounced. If kids ever crossed her, she’d push ’em and smoosh ’em lollapaloosh ’em, hammer ’em, slammer ’em kitz and kajammer ’em. Until a new kid came to school! With her irrepressible spirit, the new girl dethrones the reigning recess bully by becoming her friend in this infectious playground romp.
We’re All Wonders by R. J. Palacio
Countless fans have asked R. J. Palacio to write a book for younger readers. With We’re All Wonders, she makes her picture-book debut as both author and artist, with a spare, powerful text and striking, richly imagined illustrations. Palacio shows readers what it’s like to live in Auggie’s world—a world in which he feels like any other kid but is not always seen that way.
We’re All Wonders may be Auggie’s story, but it taps into every child’s longing to belong, and to be seen for who they truly are. It’s the perfect way for families and educators to talk about empathy and kindness with young children.
Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry
When Stick rescues Stone from a prickly situation with a Pinecone, a friendship is born. But when Stick gets stuck, can Stone return the favor?
With simple rhyming text, subtle messages of kindness and compassion, and Tom Lichtenheld’s signature charm, this delightful story about making and helping friends will enchant readers young and old because it’s never too early—or too late—to stick up for your friends.
Best Children’s Books For Bullying
What are some of your favorite children’s books for bullying? Are there any must read books for bullying that I left out? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it!
If you’re a member of the Picture Book Brain Trust Community, you already have access to EVERY lesson plan and activity for these books! Just click on the Lesson Plans button in the menu!
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