Molly Lou Melon is a quirky little girl. When Molly Lou Melon felt sad about her unique characteristics, her Grandmother always gave her words of advice to be herself and to stand tall. When she moved away and started a new school, a boy kept bullying her about her appearance but Molly Lou Melon held onto the words of her Grandmother and did not let his mean words get in her way. She kept being herself. 

With this book, students could complete a graphic organizer that shows the difference of outside and inside traits. They could also write about how they "stand tall" and draw a picture to go along with it. 

Lexile: 560L

Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon is a great read for Kindergarten-2nd grade. Molly Lou Melon is a short girl with very special characteristics. She has big teeth, a squeaky voice, and is very short. As she confronts the bully at school, she remembers all of the encouraging words her grandmother told her. This book would be a great way to introduce characteristics of the inner and outer self.

Lexile Level: AD560L

Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon is a delightful story of a unique young girl. Molly Lou has many unusual attributes, and she learns how to use them with the help of her grandmother. When Molly Lou encounters a bully, she knows just what to do. I would love to use this book at the beginning of the school year to help students raise their self-esteem and teach them how to cope with bullies. 

AR - 3.5

"Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon" by Patty Lovell is another good book to use when discussing bullying and standing up for yourself. In this story, Molly is a small child who looks different from her friends. Her grandmother tells her to stand tall and the world will love you. She moves towns and is bullied by a boy named Ronald Durkin at her new school, but she never lets him get her down. She just shows him what she can do and in the end they become friends. I would use this story for any elementary grade to spread awareness about bullying and teach a lesson about always being yourself. It also sends a message to never judge one another based on the way someone looks or talks. Molly Lou Melon gets judged by her new friends and bullied just because she is different. Reading this story on one of the first few days of school could present an opportunity to set up a quick meet and greet in the classroom. Depending on the number of students depends on how you would set up how they can rotate and meet each other. They could have a minute or 2 to share three things that say who they are. Then rotate until everyone has had a chance to talk and meet everyone in the class. This would be better than having all the students stand or get in front of the class to introduce themselves, because some students may be really shy at first. Doing this gives the students an opportunity to talk and share themselves with each other so they can all have a connection from the beginning and know they are all friends in that classroom. There are several other books that would work for this as well, but this story sends a great message. 

Lexile: AD560L

Guided Reading Level: L

Suggested Grade Level: K-2

The book Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell is one of my all time favorite books and there is no doubt that this will be a book that I will read with my future students. This story is about a little girl named Molly Lou Melon who was short, had teeth she could stack pennies on and a voice that sounded like a frog being squeezed by a boa constrictor (and so on). Her grandmother gave her so many words of encouragement and she felt so confident with herself. Sadly she was made fun of in school for those charactoristics but eventually made friends after the stunning snowflake she created. I just adore this book. Something that I would do with my students would be to have them draw and color self portraits. I would then have my students write three things they like about them selves to attach to the bottom f the portrait.I would rate this book a five out of five stars and it is listed as a ad560L on the Lexile scale.