Author: Janice Levy
Illustrators: Bill Slavin and Esperanca Melo
Publisher: Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers, 2014
Length: 29 pages
Genre: Fiction
Analysis:
Thomas the Toadilly Terrible Bully is a fun story about Thomas the Toad, the new boy in town. Since he can’t fit in, he decides to become a bully- but nobody takes him seriously. Eventually, he comes across a toad even more timid than he named Gomer, and tries to scare him, and thinks he has succeeded, only to find that there is a giant toad standing behind him who is going to eat them both if they don’t run! Thomas sticks up for his friend and fends off the big bully, and makes friends with the little toad.
This book, colorful and fun to look at, makes a great book for younger audiences with the message that bullying is bad, and to just be yourself. The illustrations portray the struggles of Thomas the Toad very well. On page two, Thomas is depicted as inside a frame on the page, where all of the other toads are outside the frame. On the next page, the illustrations change the meaning of the text slightly. The text simply describes that Thomas couldn’t pus anyone around, but the image shows Thomas as being laughed at by everyone else. This triggers a sympathetic reaction from the readers. Thomas, who is trying to be the bully, is actually being bullied by everyone else! On the next two pages, he is shown as very small with lots of white space around him. This picture book code demonstrates a sense of insecurity of Thomas. This is especially portrayed because in one of the pictures he is looking in a mirror, surrounded by white space, so it looks like he is completely alone in the world. Then, in a very colorful picture, he is depicted sitting on top of a mushroom with no horizon line. The lack of a horizon line can symbolize loneliness, or feeling lost.
Then, when he and Gomer (the little toad) are approached by the big bully, more picture book codes are used to demonstrate the power the big bully has. He is far bigger than the other toads, and is higher up on the page. Once Thomas has the idea of how to defeat him, however, Thomas is shown higher up, demonstrating his control over the situation.
Perceptually, this is a very pleasant and fun book to read. Fortunately, it also has some ideological substance. Specifically, it makes the main character very relatable as it shows why bullying is bad and you should instead be true to yourself.