The Monster Keepers
An anti-bullying adventure

Fewer than half of bullied children ever tell an adult.

This is the book they'll actually read — a monster-adventure they can't put down, that quietly hands them the moves to handle it.

For the child who's bullied, the child who bullies, and the interactions between them. Grounded in ICAN Practical Psychology, created by Prof. CK Wong, JP.

For ages 8–14
Reads as an adventure Use as a coach Safe by design
I See You — The Monster Keepers
The problem, in numbers

It's bigger, earlier and quieter than most of us think.

Bullying peaks in the middle-school years — exactly when children stop telling their parents things.

1 in 3
young teenagers worldwide has been bullied recently
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
26.3%
of middle-schoolers bullied — vs 15.7% in high school
US School Crime Supplement, 2021–22
32%
in Hong Kong — the highest of 54 education systems compared
OECD PISA · Singapore 25% · China 23% · OECD avg 19%
~1 in 2
teenagers report being harassed online — there's no school gate to leave behind
Pew Research Center, 2022
And the number that should stop us: of the children who are bullied, fewer than half ever tell an adult at school. For most of them, the grown-ups never find out at all.
Why your child may not tell you

Three fears, braided together.

A child in this bind isn't being secretive — they've done the arithmetic and concluded silence is safest.

"If I tell, I'm a snitch — and it'll only get worse."

Fear of retaliation

"No one will believe me. And even if they do, nothing will happen."

Fear of not being believed

"Maybe it's me. Maybe there's something wrong with me."

Self-blame — the most damaging
What they want is simple: to be believed the first time — and for it to stop without them becoming a bigger target. This book is written to reach them inside that silence.
Why this book, and not the others

The anti-bullying shelf splits in two. Both halves leave something out.

Novels give children the feeling of being understood, but no method. Workbooks give method, but children don't choose them — adults assign them. We built the one that does both.

What's on the shelf
What's missing
Story-based titles about bullying
✕Deep empathy — but the reader closes the book with no way out
Workbooks & self-help guides
✕Real tools — but they read clinical, and are bought-by-adults, not chosen-by-kids
Tween advice books
✕Warm and script-driven — but they abandon the reader right at the peak age
I See You
✓A page-turning adventure and a named psychological method — one voice, all three sides of the problem, safe by design

All three sides, not just the victim

Built on the ICAN three-dimension model: the child who's bullied, the child who bullies (very often a child carrying their own hurt), and the interaction between them — the pattern that keeps repeating. Work on one alone and it regrows.

A real method, not tips

Four moves a child can carry into the hallway, the group chat, and their own head — drawn from decades of clinical psychology, and never taught in a lecture-box. The characters learn them the way children do: scared, and on the second try.

Safe by design

A plain "Read This First" page before the story begins. Never victim-blaming. Zero tolerance for physical harm — the rule is always to tell a trusted adult. And a real Help Page at the back for wherever you live.

Chosen, not assigned

Monsters, a mystery, a code to crack and a crew to join. Children read it because they want to — which is the only way any of this reaches them at all.

The four moves

Not a checklist — a loop a child can live by.

I
Insight

Stop, think, see it straight.

C
Confirmation

Know who you are, name your goal.

A
Ability

You've got a move.

N
Nurture

Feel the win, grow — not alone.

…then round to I again.

Where the method comes from

Forty years of psychiatry, written into a story.

Prof. CK Wong, JP
Creator of ICAN Practical Psychology
  • Specialist in Psychiatry
  • Hon. Clinical Professor, Former Chairman, Dept. of Psychiatry, CUHK Faculty of Medicine
  • Fellow, Royal College of Psychiatrists
  • RCPsych (UK) — nominated "Public Educator of the Year" (2013)
  • 400+ organisations · 450,000+ people reached

"Bullying is never simply one 'bad' child. It is a symptom — and it lives in three places at once: in the child who is bullied, in the child who bullies, and in the interaction between them. Work on only one of the three and it regrows."

"If you are the parent who found out late, or the teacher who sensed something and did not see it happen — please put down the guilt. You were not failing to notice. You were on the wrong side of a wall the child built for reasons that made sense to them. And you are not powerless."

Prof. Wong had dyslexia before anyone had a name for it, and was held back a year at school believing his life could only be a failure. One night, nothing in his circumstances changed — only how he saw them. That turn became the seed of ICAN Practical Psychology, and, decades later, this story. He read every page of it.

The method, the evidence & the people

The full picture behind the book — About ICAN Practical Psychology, the research it draws on, and Prof. Wong's complete credentials.

Read it →
Help & safety resources

Verified child & crisis helplines for seven regions, with the "Read This First" safety principle.

Open the Help Page →

If a child is being physically hurt or threatened — that's real, and never theirs to handle alone. Zero tolerance. Tell a trusted adult, and contact your local emergency services where needed. This book is a story and a companion; it is not medical or psychological advice, and never a substitute for professional help. Every copy carries a Help Page with real support lines for wherever you live.

Start reading today

Read the first two chapters, free.

Meet Sam on the number 12 bus, and see for yourself how the story speaks to a child. We'll send them straight to your inbox.