If you remember how much fun it was to read Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen to your children, get ready for more hilarious, and educational, times with this second installment of the happenings in Howard B. Wigglebottom's life.

In this tale, Howard B. Wigglebottom has conflicts with two bullies. Mr. Binkow describes the plight of a child caught in the middle of a bullying situation perfectly. I'm sure everyone remembers those children that used to act one way when they know they're being watched and then turn around and act completely differently when they corner a helpless child. Mr. Binkow also delves into the area of revenge as Howard imagines how he could get back at the bullies to make them leave him alone. Howard exhausts all of his ideas of how to get himself out of the situation he's in and nothing helps until he listens to that small voice that proves to know the right thing to do. As usual in a Wigglebottom book, there are further helps in the back of the book for deeper discussion.

This book is so engaging and almost every child in a public school can relate. As for home schoolers, it would be a wonderful lesson on what they're missing out on by being taught at home. They also might be able to relate as they might encounter bullies in other areas of their childhood. This book gives the best answer to bullies now that teachers and other officials are actually listening to the students. Most parents would remember not being taken seriously and nothing really happening when bullies were reported. Nowadays, with bullies turning to vicious acts of violence, the importance of helping these children who feel it necessary to bully others is being brought to the forefront. This book will empower the child that is being bullied and provide them with a solution to that situation.

Product Review by Lyria Moore, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2008

Another review . . .

This is a book for children about bullies. Howard B. Wigglebottom is a little bunny who has trouble with the bullies at school. They abuse him daily, making his life miserable and stealing his lunch money. He tells himself over and over what he must do: “Be brave. Be bold. A teacher must be told.” He makes various plans and finds several excuses to delay the telling, all with disastrous results.

The one thing that bothered me a bit about this story was that the emphasis was on telling the teacher. As homeschoolers, we feel that parents should be considered the most reliable source for help in these situations, and parents were not even considered as part of the solution in this book.

The illustrations are wonderful, and our little one enjoyed the book. But I feel that it will not really resonate with homeschoolers as much as it will with children who attend public or parochial schools. It would make a nice gift for someone who attends one of those schools.

Product review by Christine Hindle, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November 2009