Don't Call Me Fatso

Summary: 

Rita is a  young girl in a class where she is the outcast because of her weight. When the class has lunch, she inhales her unhealthy food. When the class is weighed by the school nurse she is announced as the heaviest in the class. She tells her parents she doesn't want to eat sweets anymore and tries her best to exercise more. Rita continues to be picked on by her peers and feels low about herself. Finally she is re-weighed and has lost five pounds but has grew one inch. By the end of the book she is confident and slim.

Author: Barbara Philips

Theme/Skill: Character Education, Fiction, Problem Solving, Health, Bullying

Grade Level: K-4

Pre-Reading Activity:

Provide children with a plate of fake food (healthy and unhealthy). Have volunteers come up and choose healthy foods out for the class to see. Discuss with the students what a healthy diet means. Then discuss what it means to be unhealthy and different body types. Not two people look alike and being "chubby" does not mean you're unhealthy.

Post-Reading Activity:

Ask the students to respond to what Rita's peers/teachers did wrong. What would they change?

Reflection:

Honestly, I picked this book because I knew it would have some controversial content. What school now would weigh a class in front of each other? What class would allow bullying like the art teacher tolerated? Bullying is such a bigger topic now than it was around this books publishing date in 1980. Now it's unheard of that a book would recommend to students to go on a diet, work out and then you won't be picked on. At the end of the book, I perceived the message as "if you're skinny you'll be popular." What a horrible message to send to children.