Red

It starts almost imperceptibly, with something innocuous. Tommy is shy, he blushes easily. A little girl notices it, points to him and winks at Paul, the biggest bully of all. Paul grins, people laugh and whisper, and Tommy turns redder and redder. ‘Leave me alone,’ he sighs, growing a bit quieter with every laugh. One snap of the fingers and Tommy’s head turns as red as a lighthouse.

Paul laughs harder and harder. The girl’s sorry, it’s not fun anymore and she wants Paul to stop immediately. What will she tell the teacher? Fearful of Paul, she remains quiet. But when the teacher asks if anyone saw anything, she raises her finger… together with everyone else in the classroom. The little girl learns why bullying isn’t funny and tries to make it up to Tommy. ‘Shall we play soccer together?’

Jan de Kinder offers us a powerful story about strong children on the playground who don’t like bullying. The drawings underpin Tommy and the little girl’s feelings at significant moments.