One

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”.

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 show more 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.

Reading Level: 2.2
Genre: Modern Fantasy show less

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 show more classroomm of mine. show less

Deceptively simple, One actually covers colors, numbers, bullying, and self-esteem. Otoshi's text is well-crafted for reading aloud and kids will love the way Red's favorite bullying phrase rolls off the tongue, "Red is hot. Blue is not." Without a face in sight, Otoshi still manages to make her watercolor blob characters expressive and endearing. As with most bullying stories, the ending is problematic - is it realistic that Red stops bullying the others and becomes part of their group? I don't think Red rolling away on his own would have made a better ending, but Otoshi's ending does seem a little simplistic. As a simple story rather than a lesson, the ending works fine for me and Otoshi's final line that "Sometimes it just takes show more One," does indicate that the proposed solution doesn't always work. The large amounts of white space, simple text, and visual support from the illustrations would make this a good choice for beginning readers as well. I thought this was really excellent and I look forward to trying it out in storytime. show less

"One" is a unique display of overcoming bullying. The characters in this book take the form of colors, and each has their own special personality. Red is the biggest and bullies all of the other colors, especially Blue. The other colors notice that Red is picking on Blue and try to comfort him, but none of them know how to stand up to Red. Soon, Red grew bigger and bigger and scared all of the colors! They all coward in fear, until One came along. One stood up to Red and showed the colors that they could too. Soon the colors turned into numbers themselves and ALL stood up to the big bully Red. Realizing the colors had taken a stand against him made Red feel very very small. Suddenly Blue, now 6, called out to Red and told him that he show more could count too. Red, leaving behind his bully ways, turned into 7 and joined the rest!

We see the colors go from being absolutely terrified to stop Red from bullying them, to coming together to take him on. We also see Red's character change once everyone takes a stand against him. All of the colors forgive him, and he becomes one of them. I love the last line of this book. "Sometimes all it takes is One." It really does only take one person's courage to stand up for something to get other people to take action and stand up too. show less

I liked this book for two reasons. First, the writing was very well done. I liked that the author incorporated several puns and plays on words. For example, after each color stands up to Red, they change into a number. Before Bule changes into the number one, he says "I, for One, stand up and say no." I also liked this book because of the characters and the growth that they show. Red, the bully in the story, eventually changes his attitude after talking to the other colors and he changes his ways. The other colors forgive him and befriend him. I liked the bravery that One showed by being the first to stand up to Red and being a role model for the other characters. The message of this book is that it only takes one person to stand up to show more a bully and make them change their behavior. show less

Using colors and how Red becomes greater than the rest by making rude comments allows the reader to understand the effects those comments have on others. One is introduced and helps uplift those who are being brought down, and soon feel understood and confident. The end explains how it only takes One.

Grade: Primary (K-2nd)

This book has a great emphasis and understanding of bullying and forgiveness. The author does a beautiful job of representing people as colors, making it meaningful for both children and adults. This book teaches courage, kindness, and leadership in a way that feels engaging.

I loved this book! It addresses the issue of bullying and how to stand up for each other. Instead of characters in the book, there are colors that have different personalities. Red is the bully and likes to make other people feel small, especially blue. But one day, the number one comes along and stands up to red. One shows the other colors that they can count too by standing up to red. So one by one, each color stood up to red and turned into a number, until only red was left. Then red got very sad and felt left out. The numbers invited red to join them and become a number, too. I really liked how the book not only talks about the effects of bullying, but also the impact that one person can have by standing up to that bully. I think show more this is a fantastic book to introduce children to the topic of bullying and how to fix the problem. I would definitely use this in my classroom! show less