Not My Fault Book

Written from the perspective of the schoolyard, this simply illustrated tale stimulates thought on issues of responsibility. When the classmates of a young boy who has been bullied all deny blame for the incident, they offer many common excuses why they declined to step in on their peer's behalf. The familiar, first-person narration of the young characters begs the question, Does it really have nothing to do with me? The story closes with a series of powerful images of global strife, making the connection between simply not stepping in to help someone and standing by while wider atrocities go on.

Children's Literature

When a boy is bullied by a classmate, how do the other children respond? Person by person, Leif Kristiansson presents their accounts of the conflict and their responses to it, in escalating order. There is the girl who says she didn't see what happened, but saw the boy crying. There is the boy who says he was scared, so he just watched what happened. There are the kids who admit hitting the boy, but seem to think it's okay because they weren't the "first" and only hit "a few times." There are the kids who justify their actions by blaming the boy himself. It becomes clear that no one helped him, no one comforted him, and no one told a teacher. Six wordless pages at the book's end show black and white photographs, including an emaciated child, an exploding bomb and soldiers with a hostage. These provide a powerful springboard for readers to discuss responsibility not only in their class, but in the world as a whole.