This is my son Taylors first year starting school in the pre-k. I worry as any mother would about bullying and how it may effect my son if it happens. So when I was asked to review Picked on Poindexter I was eager to accept. I was a victim of bullying when I was growing up as so many of us were. The extent that children take it to these days are a whole lot farther than they did when I was young. It breaks my heart to hear about the suicides that have been occurring as a result and the cutting that these kids do because their own self worth has been destroyed by some other obnoxious child. I was very happy to have a tool to use to help teach my son and all my children, at a young age what to do to prevent bullying and how to handle it appropriately.
Picked on Poindexter is an interactive book that is filled with music and activities to help children learn what the right choices are when confronted with someone who is a bully or being bullied themselves. It works on your iPad or kindle. My children are obsessed with their iPad minis so for my family this was absolutely perfect. To take it a step farther there is also a stuffed Poindexter that was sent to our home for my children to snuggle with and use as moral support in their arms if they want. The stuffed Poindexter that was sent is so big and so soft I could not help myself and had to give him a squish too! My daughter absolutely loves him and has not put him down since he arrived. He has become her side kick in the fight against meanies!
“Huggable Melodies, a new company formed by two moms who are also trained educators, launches Picked-On Poindexter ($0.99 iTunes/Amazon introductory price), a charmingly illustrated 26-page interactive digital book featuring Broadway level tunes with uplifting messages. To enhance the story, Poindexter the frog ($19.99), a 13” plush that’s huggable and comforting is the ideal companion as kids glide (or stumble) through life’s early challenges. Huggable Melodies founders Denise Trager and Mary Ellen Panaccione — who have worked with children professionally over 30 years — yearned to bring something new to the App and cuddly toy marketplace that speaks persuasively and truthfully to both parents and children alike through their comforting, original music and messages. With appealing tunes like “The Bully Rap” and “Don’t Fit In” sprinkled through the App, kids will want to read and be read to this “safe” book about how to face and cope with the perils of bullies.”
The music in the App is a fantastic way to get the message across. You can go to the website for Huggable Melodies and listen to some clips of the songs that are in the interactive book itself. The songs are so cute that you can’t help but find yourself singing along with the chorus or the actual song as your child plays it again and again. The important part though is the message that are in the songs themselves. It is really important that we teach our children at the start of their lives and learning how to socialize, the importance of tolerance of other people and their differences. I strongly encourage my children to keep an open mind and welcome the learning experience that they will have when they meet someone who was brought up differently than them. They may learn something wonderful that they would not have been exposed to otherwise.
