One

I love the book One by Kathryn Otoshi. Its universal messages of acceptance and anti-bullying are perfect for children of all ages. The main color, Blue, shares his feelings and relationships with other colors like friendly Yellow and mean Red. The use of colors and numbers as the characters makes it appropriate for pre-school units counting 1-7 and colors. Additionally, the illustrations are engaging for all levels of elementary school children. The discussion of feelings and emotions fits well with early elementary school. The bullying and acceptance theme makes it a great conversation starter with upper elementary & middle school students. One is a quick and enjoyable read-aloud. I would love to utilize this book in a future classroomm of mine. ( )

This book was amazing and powerful, I know the children would love this book. This book is about a blue circle who wishes he has some of the exciting traits like his friends. Blue is timid and he gets bullied by the meanest of them all, which is the red circle. Eventually, blue felt sad with himself. Blue's friends were kind to him, but they wouldn't stand up to red. Blue wanted to give up, but the number one comes along and made things right for blue. Number one brings everyone in a circle together to stand up for blue. That's when red felt very small, and he rolled away. However, blue and one called out to red to join the fun. I believe the theme is acceptance because of blue friends accepting him and number one. At the end of the story, they accepted red. This book was fun and cute. ( )

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 happening, but they don't know what to 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. ( )

This book teaches lessons on colors and counting along with acceptance and friendship. The colors in the book witness Blue being bullied by Red, but no one says anything and they soon see how things can get out of hand. Thankfully, One comes along to teach everyone a lesson and helps everyone find a way to get along. ( )

This is a beautifully illustrated book that uses colors, numbers, and even puns to tell the story about a bully (Red), his victims (Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple, and Orange), and the “One” who stood up to the bully. Throughout the story, Red makes the other colors feel smaller and smaller, and they are too afraid to stand up for themselves and the others, even when they know what Red is doing is wrong. However, when One stands up, the tables turn and all colors find their voice to make sure they “count”.[return][return]There are so many different topics you can cover from this moving story. A discussion could arise about how the colors were not able to stand up for themselves, and when One finally did it empowered the rest of the colors. There is also the possibility a discussion could be brought up about what would have happened if the other colors invited Red into their group. Since is it also a book about colors and numbers, it would be very easy to incorporate this book into a lesson plan over numbers and colors in the early elementary grades. Although the author uses very simple characters, the meaning of this book will have the children thinking and discussing. The end shows children it is important to not turn into the bully.[return][return]Reading Level: 2.2[return]Genre: Modern Fantasy