Bully - Hardcover

Sattler's fable provides a model for how a sharing and caring community will win against a selfish bully's ugly influence. Expressive graphite-and-watercolor illustrations reflect both the bullfrog's emotional and environmental impacts on the pond and its inhabitants and the ultimate benevolent message of kindness. A final note about ways to practice acts of kindness completes the concept. Truly, a tale for our times. --Kirkus Review

Sattler's brightly colored insect characters, including some slithering species, are not just adorable, they're also fully within their rights. The lesson is clear: individuals may not feel very powerful against an intimidating figure, but there's strength in numbers. --Publisher's Weekly

Bully the bullfrog lives in a lovely lily pond, which he is unwilling to share with anyone else. To that end, he orders a series of insects off the pond: a snail who wants to taste the lilies; a dragonfly who wants to smell them; and a bee who wants to tickle them. Blissfully alone, Bully feasts on the flowers, weaves blooms into a crown, and piles petals into a bed until one lily remains. The text and the watercolor illustrations combine to conjure up the sensory beauty of the pond and its delicate ecosystem, as well as Bully's destructive behavior. The climax comes when the banished bugs return en masse in a wonderful two-page spread, where they chase off a very worried-looking Bully. With the insects return, the pond revives, and Bully must get used to muddy new digs away from friends and flowers. A Note about Kindness at the book s end emphasizes that practicing kindness is easy and offers tips for spreading it around. Comical and inspiring. --Booklist