Is it Because?

The young lad in this picture book is a philosophical sort, and he ruminates with his dog over one of life’s big questions: why do bullies do what they do? He comes up with some remarkable answers. Perhaps his own particular bully ‘hasn’t a dog’ or is ‘as thick as a log’. Or perhaps he ‘misses his mum’ or ‘still sucks his thumb’. In the end he finds the most satisfying answer: ‘he’d rather be me’. It’s an old story told with Ross’s freshness and originality – a liked and well-sorted lad being bullied by one with low self-esteem – told in such a way that we can feel for both bully and bullied. The vintage Ross illustrations amply display the characteristics of both.