Giant Joe

Once upon a time
Very long ago
Lived a tiny little man
They called him "Giant Joe."

Now kids often wondered
How he got his name
But they were afraid to ask him
For fear he would be ashamed

Giant Joe was always around
With a big smile on his face
He could make all the children laugh
Any time or any place

He loved to talk
To all the girls and boys
About their favorite games
And their favorite toys

They all gathered around him
Every time he came outside
The kids would call him over
Giant Joe ran to them with pride

One day this new boy Nick
Moved into the neighborhood
He wasn't very kind
He was up to no good

When he came out to play
He pushed everyone around
One day when Giant Joe was there
He even knocked him down

The kids watched in horror
As Giant Joe got back up
They thought he would be so mad
That he might blow up!

Not Giant Joe
That wasn't him at all
He was just worried
Nick had hurt himself in the fall

This is what he did
He walked over to Nick and said...
" Are you all right? I'm sorry,
I bumped into you kid."

The kids were so surprised
And after Nick went inside
They were all very curious
Why he didn't get mad and fight

Now Giant Joe sat them down
And asked them "Do you know
Where I got my name?”
Their attention started to show

They all had lots of questions
Like why he didn’t get mad instead
And as they listened carefully
This is what he said ...

It takes a GIANT person
Not to let someone get you mad
If you let them do this
Then surely you‘ll be sad

He also told the kids
Because he was tiny they would tease
That this was something
That didn’t make him pleased

He said the kids wouldn't have stopped
If he had gotten upset
So instead he would ignore them
And off they all went

One day Joe's mother asked him
Why he was so quiet
He told her he was made fun of
And that he didn't like it

His mother sadly asked
"Oh Joe what did you do"
And little Joe answered back
"Mom I've learned well from you

I ignored them and I didn't fight
And so now they leave me alone."
With that his mother told him
How she thought he'd grown

It didn't matter if he was tiny at all
To her he was "Giant Joe"
And when his mother gave him his nick name
His face had a proud glow

So you see kids learn from this
And be nice to everyone
If someone is being mean to you
Don't let them think they've won

Just walk away and ignore them
And they will soon stop
It's a lesson I learned long ago
Now look at all of the friends I've got