Is It Because? by Tony Ross

The familiarity of Tony Ross's charmingly chaotic illustrations makes the potential awkwardness of his chosen subject matter somehow easier to swallow, in this simple poem about a common childhood problem. When a little boy asks his dog: “Pepe, is it because he's got silly names?..Is it because he's no good at games?...” and so on, we are initially oblivious as to the reason for his musing. It's not until the final few pages that we discover the boy is being bullied, and is in fact pondering over his tormentor's motives. Ross's refreshingly alternative morality tale boldly advocates a more philosophical approach to the too-often seemingly black-and-white issue of bullying, and by keeping it simple, cleverly avoids the usual patronising tone of other such 'issue' based books.