Billy and Ant Lie: The Billy Books, Book 4

A lie is deliberately saying something that is not true that you want someone else to believe. Lies are told to protect ourselves or someone else from getting into trouble, to avoid punishment or embarrassment. Nearly everyone has told a "white" lie at some point, but lying becomes a problem when the person is compelled to frequently tell untruths. Lying then becomes a way of life.

Frequent liars quickly lose people's trust as once a lie has been told. It is easy to embellish stories as you tell them. In this book, Billy and Ant get carried away with their own storytelling. Of course, everyone hopes to get away with a lie - that's why they are told - but there is always a consequence. Even their teacher gets into trouble without having had anything to do with the lie itself. Every lie has an impact not only on the person who has told it, but on others, too.

Lying can be hard work as the people doing the lying need to have a really good memory to remember everything they have told and to whom they have told it. The best is to be honest, suffer the consequences at the time, and learn from the experience. Billy and Ant's parents are very disappointed in their sons for lying and getting into trouble. Parents prefer to know the truth, no matter how bad it is; there is nothing worse than finding out that someone you love and trust has been deceiving you. It is also important that parents never lie to, or in front of their children, as this lesson is definitely best learnt by example.