I Can Build Confidence

An important story for young readers about standing up to bullies and developing courage and self-confidence.

Kim is in kindergarten, and she loves going to school! She has a new backpack she can’t wait to use and show to her friends.

On the way to school, she spots Grit and Fritz on the playground. They approach her, they call her names, they threaten to hurt her if she doesn’t give them her new backpack. Scared, Kim can’t find her voice to yell for help and shrinks inside herself as the bigger kids taunt her. When they are scared away by an older kid, Kim continues on to class but doesn’t want to tell Ms. Blume why she’s upset.

In class that day, Ms. Blume sings a song about being strong and asks her students to create treasure boxes that will hold their talents and strengths. As Kim works, frequently bothered by Frtiz and Grit, she decides that her treasure box should hold everything she needs to be big and strong—confidence, courage, her voice.

When Frtiz and Grit return to stomp all over her box, Kim has a decision to make: she can either run to the cozy corner and hide, or she can plant her feet, take a deep breath, and tell her bullies to leave her alone. Which will she choose?

Elisabeth Zöller was born in Brilon in 1945 and studied German, French, art history, and pedagogy in Münster, Munich, and Lausanne. She worked for seventeen years at various high schools and began to write children’s books a few years ago. She is the author of four books.

Dagmar Geisler is a German author and illustrator. She studied graphic design at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden and worked for several publishing houses and broadcasting companies. Today, Dagmar focuses mainly on children's books, both as an illustrator and an author. She illustrated My Body Belongs to Me from My Head to My Toes which received the Silver Feather (Silberne Feder) Children's Book Prize from the German Medical Women's Association, and is the illustrator of My Feelings and Me. She lives with her family in Munich, Germany.