{"id":270385,"date":"2025-07-19T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/?p=270385"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:47:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:47:06","slug":"book-review-ben-and-the-bullies-and-dance-to-your-own-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/book-review-ben-and-the-bullies-and-dance-to-your-own-beat\/","title":{"rendered":"Children&#8217;s book reviews: Ben and the Bullies and Dance to Your Own Beat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/dance_to_your_own_be_11424.jpg\" alt=\"Dance to Your Own Beat by Refiloe Moahloli\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dance to Your Own Beat by Refiloe Moahloli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.panmacmillan.co.za\/authors\/refiloe-moahloli\/dance-to-your-own-beat\/9781779991263\">Dance to Your Own Beat<\/a> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Author: Refiloe Moahloli <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Illustrator: Gabi Boy <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Publisher: Pan MacMillan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a simple, sweet story that is all about understanding who you are and the importance of being yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It tells the story of Zazi, who loves to dance but only in private.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When her school hosts a concert she decides to sing in the choir, where she can blend in and not draw attention to herself, but she doesn\u2019t enjoy it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zazi tells her parents about her dilemma and they teach her about her history and how dancing has always been a family compulsion, which encourages Zazi to take a leap of faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although <a href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/book-review-of-author-roslynne-toeriens-newest-books\/\">books<\/a> teaching children about self-confidence are certainly not new, this book has some special pizzazz that makes it extra-charming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" data-attachment-id=\"270389\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/book-review-ben-and-the-bullies-and-dance-to-your-own-beat\/ben_bullies_hi_res\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ben_bullies_hi_res.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"600,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"ben_bullies_hi_res\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ben_bullies_hi_res.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ben_bullies_hi_res.jpg\" alt=\"Ben and the Bullies by Zuleka Smit.\" class=\"wp-image-270389\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ben_bullies_hi_res.jpg 600w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ben_bullies_hi_res-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ben_bullies_hi_res-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lapa.co.za\/ben-and-the-bullies-zuleka-smit-johann-strauss\">Ben and the Bullies<\/a> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Author: Zuleka Smit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Illustrator: Johann Strauss <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Publisher: Luca<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Several books into this series, the main character, Ben, is still finding that school full of new challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This time around Ben has to deal with bullies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this book, which is part of a series by teacher and motivational speaker Zuleka Smit, a pair of twins is terrorising Ben, taking his lunch and threatening him with worms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ben\u2019s mom notices his distress and intervenes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bullies leave him alone for a while until one of them ends up in a sticky situation, and Ben comes to his rescue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smit has written several books about Ben and his little sister Lea, all of which are aimed at teaching children life-skills to help them overcome school-related challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>Ben and the Bullies<\/em> Ben uses kindness as a means to overcome his adversaries. Smit\u2019s books are also available in Afrikaans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We review two children&#8217;s books, one about having the courage to be yourself and another about dealing with 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and the Bullies by Zuleka Smit","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"Lauren O'Connor-Maylauren.oconnor-may@novusmedia.co.za","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Book review: Ben and the Bullies and Dance to Your Own 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