Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully

Published by Tanglewood Press, LLC, August 2008.

Text © Audrey Penn 2008.
Illustrations © Barbara Leonard Gibson 2008.

All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Design by Amy Alick Perich.

Tanglewood Press, LLC
P. O. Box 3009
Terre Haute, IN 47803
www.tanglewoodbooks.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-1-933718-15-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Penn, Audrey, 1947-

Chester Raccoon and the big bad bully / by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson.

p. cm.

Summary: When Chester tells his mother about the school bully, she asks him to gather his friends to hear a story about getting along with people who are prickly.

ISBN 978-1-933718-15-6 (alk. paper)

[1. Bullies--Fiction. 2. Conflict management--Fiction. 3. Nonviolence--Fiction. 4. Raccoons--Fiction. 5. Animals--Fiction.] I. Gibson, Barbara, ill. II. Title.

PZ7.P38448Che 2008

[E]--dc22

2008004637

To Ellice, whose sweetness can
teach us all how to be better friends.

-AP

For my younger sister Karen, who
repeatedly saved me from the badger.

-BLG

 

Content

Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully

C
hester Raccoon stood in front of his tree hollow looking gloomy. His younger brother Ronny and his best friend Cassy stood beside him.

“We don't want to go to school,” Chester told his mother. “We want to stay home with you. Please. May we stay home with you?”

“I thought you liked school,” said Mrs. Raccoon.

“We do,” said Chester.

“Then why do you want to stay home with me?”

Chester lowered his head and shuffled his foot. “. . . er's . . . a . . . ully . . . a . . . ool,” he explained in a quiet muffled voice.

Mrs. Raccoon reached out and tenderly lifted Chester's head with her hand. “What did you say?”

Chester gazed into his mother's loving eyes and gulped. “There's a bully at school.”

“And he's horrible!” cried Ronny. “He's big and mean.”

“And he has giant claws on his hands and feet!” wailed Cassy.

“And fangs!” screeched Chester. “And fire comes out of his nose! And if you get in his way, he'll step on your face and squash you like a bug!”

“Like a bug!” echoed Ronny.

“Oh my! He sounds very scary,” said Mrs. Raccoon. “Bullies can be very difficult! I'll tell you what,” she told the frightened cubs. “I'll walk you to school and back. Then we can decide what to do about this bully.”

When the raccoons reached the school tree, Chester tugged on his mother's arm. “That's him! That's the bully.” He pointed a trembling finger at a badger standing by the pond. “Isn't he awful? Isn't he the most scary-looking bully you've ever seen?”

“Oh my, yes,” whispered Mrs. Raccoon. “But I'm sure we can work things out.” Before leaving, she gently fluffed Chester's mask and playfully tweaked Ronny's nose.

“Be brave,” she told the cubs and gave each of her sons a comforting kiss in their palms.

After school, Chester, Ronny, and Cassy told Mrs. Raccoon how the badger bullied his classmates at recess.

“First he snatched a ball away from the squirrel and popped it.

“Then he climbed atop the jungle gym and squashed the opossum's fingers until the opossum fell to the ground.

“Then he spooked a doe, who bumped into the skunk, who got so scared that he sprayed and stunk. Even Owl Teacher couldn't get him to behave.”

“Sometimes animals are bullies because they don't know any other way to be,” explained Mrs. Raccoon. “But I think there's a way you can change things. Go get your friends and bring them to our tree. I want to share a story.”

A few minutes later, a crowd of eager young forest animals stood at the base of Chester's tree house, and Mrs. Raccoon began her tale.