One [Hardcover]

Kathryn Otoshi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Blue is a quiet color. Red’s a hothead who likes to pick on Blue. Yellow, Orange, Green, and Purple don’t like what they see, but what can they do? When no one speaks up, things get out of hand — until One comes along and shows all the colors how to stand up, stand together, and count. As budding young readers learn about numbers, counting, and primary and secondary colors, they also learn about accepting each other's differences and how it sometimes just takes one voice to make everyone count.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K—This is a deceptively simple color and counting book that turns into a lesson on bullying. Whenever they meet, Blue is picked on by Red: "Red is HOT. Blue is NOT." The other colors like Blue but are intimidated by the bluster so they say nothing, and soon Red is bossing everyone around. But then One comes. It is funny and brave and confronts Red: "If someone is mean and picks on me, I, for One, stand up and say, No." All the other colors follow One's lead and become numbers too. Yellow is two, Green, three, etc. Red begins to feel left out and tries to bully Blue, but Blue ignores him and changes to Six: "Red can be really HOT,' he says, but Blue can be super COOL.'" The rest of the numbers stick up for Blue, but offer Red the opportunity to join in the counting, and all ends well. The book is well designed with bright colored circles and numbers on stark white pages accompanied by black print. The text is very simple but meaningful, and the moral is subtly told. Red is not ostracized but included in the game, and the essential point of one person making a difference is emphasized by the ending: "Sometimes it just takes One." This is an offering with great potential for use with the very young in a variety of ways.—Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* There are many stories about bullies, but few have looked at the subject in such an attractive, original way. Using round splashes of watercolors as their personas, Otoshi introduces a group of colors. Quiet Blue likes looking at the sky. The other colors have their own characteristics: Orange is outgoing; Green is bright; Purple is regal. Red, though, is a hothead and likes to tease: “Red is hot. Blue is not.” Blue feels bad, and though the other colors comfort him, they’re afraid of Red. In a dramatic and effective spread, Red, feeling mean, grows into a bigger, ever-angrier ball. Enter One. The sturdy numeral wins over the other colors with laughter, making Red even madder, but when he tries his bullying ways on One, One stands up to him. The other colors follow, turning Red into a small ball. He is rolling away when Blue gracefully offers him a chance to be counted. The use of colors and numbers gives the story a much-needed universality, and there is a visceral power in the “strength-in-numbers” gambit (although it should be noted that it can work for ill as well as good). Otoshi cleverly offers a way to talk to very young children about the subject of bullying, even as she helps put their imaginations to work on solutions. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: KO Kids Books (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972394648
• ISBN-13: 978-0972394642
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 10.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #81 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars is Not Enough -- Amazing New Book About Bullying (with colors and counting too), October 21, 2008

By 

Nicki Heskin "Editor, Early Childhood and Bre... (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One (Hardcover)

I am so moved by this book, I barely know where to start writing about it. My daughter just received this for her 6th birthday, and it is maybe the most unique new idea I have seen in children's books in a really long time. If this doesn't become a bestseller, it's a crime.

Using the metaphor of colors, Otoshi gently creates a group of kids with different personalities. Blue is quiet and contemplative, yellow is sunny, green is bright, purple is regal, orange is outgoing, but red is HOT -- a bully, who picks on blue. The others colors are sympathetic and like blue and commiserate, but don't tell red to stop, and red becomes bigger and stronger until everyone is bullied and afraid and there seems to be nothing they can do. (This part of the story actually subtly but hauntingly echoes that story about the Holocaust when they come after one group and then another and when they come after the storyteller there is no one left to help).

But then the story shifts when "1" arrives. He stands up to red and gives the other colors the courage to do the same. As they find their courage they shift from shapeless colors into numbers -- answering to "1" declaration to say no when picked on with "Me Two" and "Me Three." The metaphor rolls on nicely when blue declares he wants to "COUNT" as well. And when red, in desperation, bullies blue again, blue becomes 6. When red attacks, the numbers stand together, and red becomes small.

Maybe the most lovely moment of the book is when blue invites red to count too....red becomes 7 and joins in. The final message of the book is that "sometimes is just takes One."

In today's world, this is such an important message. One person has and can change the world, and it's a small act that can do so. We never know how our actions can make a difference. Even in it's this books's most simple interpretation, with bullying is such a critical issue on the playground today, this book sends the message of saying no and and standing together in a really accessible and non-preachy way. It's hard to understand how since they are just blobs of paint, but somehow Otoshi gives the colors such personality you can see kids' personalities just standing there - but so much more beautiful and simple than an "afterschool special type" book illustrated with actual kids can do it.

On the wider message, that one action/person can change the world, the book invites discussion with parents and classmates and teachers, and that is what excites me most of all. This book should be in every classroom and on every child's bookshelf. I plan to get it immediately to donate to my daughter's classroom in honor of her birthday, and I suspect it will be a primary feature in "Stand Up To Bullies Day" which I think is coming soon.

Please by this book for a child as a gift. It is my absolute favorite thing my daughter received for her birthday.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I, for One, think this book is amazing!, December 7, 2008

By 

S. Cichowlas - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One (Hardcover)

I read this book to my 7 year-old son tonight. As a fairly non-aggressive child, he has had a few experiences with older children who some would call bullies. Interestingly, he seemed to be quite aware that Red's actions were more a symptom than a cause. He said, "If they had just included Red at the beginning, maybe he wouldn't feel left out."

I would highly recommend this book to classroom teachers, therapists, and anyone else who works with children.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fabulous book for kids and classrooms, November 25, 2008

By 

Rand McNally (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One (Hardcover)

This is an amazing book. Not preachy, it uses color, rhythm, and drama to create a short fable about how to overcome oppression. While you first think of schoolyard bullies, it's really about more than that: it's about people banding together from a sense of inclusion to defeat their enemies by bringing them into the group. This is one of the most important books of the year, with a message that is simple, powerful, unforgettable, and uplifting. Parents, teachers, buy this book and read it to your children!