The One and Only Me (Harper Growing Tree) [Hardcover]

Marilyn Singer (Author), Nicole Rubel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Series: Harper Growing Tree

Your 3-year-old is gaining a sense of individuality but also enjoys being part of a family.

Tips for reading and sharing:Look in a mirror and point out the traits you and your child share

Share old and new family photos with your child

Draw portraits of family members with your child

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K-A lively little girl explains how she is like various members of her extended family. The drawings and rhymes aptly show that while parts of her body may be similar to those of her relatives, they combine to make the "Completely,/uniquely,/definitely,/specially,/the one/and only/ME!" She reads with Grandma Rose, who has the same nose; plays spies with Gramps, who has her eyes; plays engineers with brother, Ed, who has her ears; and sings with Uncle Keith, who has the same teeth. The simple, childlike cartoons are brightly colored and have lots of action and changes of scenery. This romping read-aloud shows youngsters how they are members of families, but still uniquely themselves.
Shanla Brookshire, Lovett Memorial Library, Pampa, TX
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: HarperFestival (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694012793
• ISBN-13: 978-0694012794
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,034,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides, and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories, and in 1976, her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over eighty books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling that says, "Hi. How are you? Sweet Birdie. Okay!" Her interests include ballroom/Latin dancing, dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, playing computer adventure games, and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Marilyn is the former host of the AOL Children's Writers Chat and currently co-hosts the Poetry Blast at various conferences. Visit her web site: www.marilynsinger.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read aloud for preschoolers, February 27, 2001

By 

"dgpruett" (Round Rock, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The One and Only Me (Harper Growing Tree) (Hardcover)

This delightful book imparts an essential truth to little ones in just two lines per page, 24 pages in all. Each double page spread features the main character with another family member, and in rhyme, relates the feature or body part that they have in common. "When I sing songs with Uncle Keith, Aunt Lil declares I've got his teeth." Toddlers will especially love guessing the rhyming feature if given the chance. The illustrations are detailed enough to give a clue as to the feature of similarity as well. After detailing how much like all her family members the little girl is, the book finishes with the girl looking in the mirror and the text "But looking at my family, I know just what I see, I may have a bit of everyone, but they all add up to me." The last spread is a family portrait and the line "Completely, uniquely, definately, specially, the one and only ME!"

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great concept, flawed execution, December 9, 2002

By 

Laura Hattaway (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The One and Only Me (Harper Growing Tree) (Hardcover)

It's a sweet enough story, but my problem is that this is supposed to be a book to help teach kids how to read. Yet on EVERY SINGLE PAGE, the phrase "I've got" is used when "I have" would be grammatically more precise. Also, a picky point: the author rhymes "engineers" and "ears." Sorry, but "eers" and "ears" don't rhyme; they're the SAME SOUND. If we're going to teach kids to read and, eventually, to write, we need to give them good examples, not sloppy ones.