At lunch, a new kid named Sam gets left out, and Noor sees the whole thing and freezes. This is the story of how a watcher becomes an upstander, guided by Pip the peace owl. You walk in Noor's shoes.
The storyteller reads to you. Just tap the big button!
Follow Pip through Noor's lunchroom. Pip glows a little brighter every time someone chooses kind.
Word Power
Tap each word. Then, if you want, say one out loud.
Now YOU say it, if you want to: “Stop, that's not kind. Come sit with us.”
Say it out loud, loud enough that Pip can hear you!
Pip Meter
Do each part to help Pip glow. 0/9
Noor's Lunchroom Story
Read the scene. Try the move. Help Noor become an upstander.
Part 1
The Empty Seat
“Sorry, it's taken.”
Lunchtime. Sam is new here. Sam walks up with a tray, looking for a seat. But when Sam reaches the table, some kids slide a backpack onto the empty chair. “Sorry, it's taken.” Someone laughs. Sam's face goes still, and Sam turns to eat alone. Noor sees the whole thing… and freezes.
Pip says: Big feelings are in the room. Tap to see what everyone is feeling.
What is everyone feeling?
Say it: “A watcher is a bystander. Let's help Noor be more.”
Part 2
Notice & Steady
Noor's chest is tight and their feet feel stuck. That's the freeze: it happens to almost everybody when something feels hard and fast. Before Noor can help, Noor takes one slow breath and notices: “Right now I'm a bystander. I don't have to stay one.”
Pip says: Steady with Noor. Breathe in slow through your nose… and let it out even slower through your mouth. Feel your feet come unstuck.
Steady with Noor
Say it: “Steady first. Then I can choose.”
Part 3
Use Your Words
Noor wants to help, but how? A grumble under your breath doesn't help Sam. Yelling doesn't either. Upstanders use their words: calm, kind, and brave. Tap each quiet or mean line and hear it turn into upstander words.
Pip says: Listen to the flip. Same idea, but now the words actually help.
Tap each line to flip it into upstander words
Say it: “Calm. Kind. Brave. That's upstander words.”
Part 4
Three Ways to Help
Here's the secret: you don't need to be the loudest kid in the room to be an upstander. There are three ways to help, and every single one counts. Tap each one.
Pip says: Pick any one of these and you're an upstander. You don't have to do all three.
Tap each way to help
Say it: “Get help. Include. Speak up kindly.”
Part 5
Say It Like an Upstander
Now it's Noor's turn to pick the words. Upstander sentences are short, calm, and true. Read each one, then choose the one you'd say.
Pip says: There's no wrong pick here. Tap one and hear how strong it sounds.
Pick an upstander sentence
Say it: “My words can open a seat.”
Part 6
Upstanders Are Everywhere
Noor isn't the first kid to stand up. Upstanders are everywhere, and most of them are just regular kids who did one kind thing. Tap each one and hear their move.
Pip says: You're in good company, Noor. None of these needed a cape.
Tap each upstander
Say it: “Regular kids. One kind move. That's me too.”
Part 7
Back at the Table
This is the moment.
Back at the lunch table. Sam is still eating alone. The kids are still laughing. Noor is steady now, and Noor knows the three ways to help. This is the moment. What should Noor do?
Pip says: This is the biggest moment of all. Pick the upstander move, the one Noor would be proud of.
Choose Noor's move
Part 8
A Seat for Sam
Sam sits down. Just like that, the empty seat isn't empty, and it isn't lonely. The laughing stops. One kid even says “sorry” and passes Sam the ketchup. Noor's heart is still thumping a little… but it's a good thump now. “I was a bystander,” Noor thinks. “And then I wasn't.”
Pip says: Look what one upstander changed. See how bright I'm glowing? Tap what Noor did.
Tap what Noor did
Say it: “One kind move changed the whole table.”
Part 9
Pass It On
A few days later, Noor spots a kid standing alone at the edge of the playground, watching everyone else play. Noor knows that feeling: it's the same one Sam had. And now Noor knows exactly what to do. Pick what Noor says.
Pip says: This is the best part of being an upstander: passing it on. Pick Noor's words.
Pick what Noor says
Say it: “Pass it on.”
Story complete
⭐ You helped Noor go from bystander to upstander, all nine moves! You earned your Upstander badge, and look how bright Pip is glowing!
And here's the secret: being an upstander isn't just for the lunch table. It works anywhere someone's being left out or picked on: the bus, the group chat, the park, a rough day. Now you know how.
One more time, like an upstander: “Stop, that's not kind. Come sit with us.” Want to hear yourself say it?
Say it out loud, loud enough that Pip can hear you!
Tell a grown-up: ask me what an UPSTANDER is.
For Teachers, Counselors & Mentors
What this builds (transformative SEL): Collaborative problem-solving (“We solve it together”) with a thread of Belonging (“I belong”).
Use this as a short SEL, advisory, counseling, or mentoring activity on being an upstander. Students may pass, write privately, draw, or answer out loud. Noor's lunchroom moment gives every move a story to hang on.
15-minute mini-lesson
Read the Hero panel so students know the lunchroom moment, then let Pip introduce the three Word Power words.
Open Part 1: The Empty Seat. Ask what a bystander is, and how Sam might feel.
Do Use Your Words as a group and talk through what changes when the words turn calm, kind, and brave.
Invite one private "upstander sentence" (Part 5: Say It Like an Upstander).
Close with one voluntary share-out.
Behavior, not identity
The teasing is named as an action ("some kids laughed," "that wasn't kind"), never as a "bad kid." A child who has been that kid can still come along: the redirects coach, they never scold.
Trauma-sensitive facilitation
Don't require personal sharing. Let students pass. Validate feelings before pushing action. Never frame freezing as a character flaw: it happens to almost everybody.
This is a practice tool for rehearsing skills, not therapy, counseling, or a clinical service.
Reinforce being an upstander at home: name kindness when you see it, ask "did anyone get left out today?", and practice calm, kind, brave words together. Remind your child that getting a grown-up isn't tattling: tattling gets someone in trouble; this gets someone out of trouble.
Conversation starters: Who did you sit with at lunch? Have you ever felt left out, what helped? What's one kind thing you could do if you saw a kid alone?
This is a practice tool for rehearsing skills, not therapy, counseling, or a clinical service.
Privacy Note
Nothing is saved to a server and nothing is sent anywhere. If your child records their voice for the "say it" moment, the recording stays only on this device: it is never saved, never uploaded, and it is gone when the page closes. The Read aloud narration uses a recorded storyteller voice and only reads the comic, never your child.
This is a practice tool for rehearsing skills, not therapy, counseling, or a clinical service.
