Leave Me Alone: A Tale of What Happens When You Stand Up to a Bully

The team behind 2009’s Mom and Dad Glue returns with another empathetic treatment of an emotionally trying subject: bullying. Working in rhymed couplets, Gray unspools the story of a boy seen sitting despondently in a green meadow, his shadow as long as his face. One by one, animals come up to offer comfort, but he rebuffs each one. “ ‘Leave me alone,’ I said./ ‘Sorry,’ said the cat./ ‘Your sadness makes my whiskers wilt,/ I think we need to chat.’ ” Eight animals later, the boy reveals the source of his anxiety, a giant “So big he blocks the sun,/ Who teases me and bullies me/ Every day for fun.” While Gray’s verse can feel plodding and predictable, Wildish’s artwork supplies a substantial amount of drama. The giant is downright terrifying—an enormous, hulking monster, backlit by a blazing sun, who lumbers toward the group, eyes glowing red. But by banding together and turning the boy’s refrain (and the book’s title) on its head, they send the giant packing. Is the book’s message subtle? No. Effective? Yes. Ages 4–7. (Oct.)