Welcome to The Boychick’s Bookshelf! In this series, I review children’s books of interest to parents who want to raise children free from and opposed to kyriarchy. These reviews will focus on books which showcase stories and lives beyond the dominant culture of white straight middle-class families, or which contain explicitly anti-kyriarchy messages (anti-racism, anti-ableism, anti-sexism, anti-heterosexism, anti-cissexism, anti-violence, anti-colonialization, and so on).

One

The Story

One by Kathryn Otoshi tells the story of a group of colors and their transformation/maturation into numbers. We are introduced to Blue, who is cool, and his friends Yellow, Green, Purple, and Orange. Then we meet Red, who is hot, and who bullies Blue. The other colors console Blue, but do not stand up to Red — which makes Red bigger and bigger, until he starts bullying all the colors, and “[t]hen everyone felt…a little blue.” And then One (who is grey) comes, and makes friends with Blue and the other colors, which angers Red, who bullies all the colors — but One stands up to him, which inspires the other colors to stand up, and turn from colored “blobs” (for lack of a better word) into colored numbers (2-5) as well. Finally Blue (who has become 6) also stands up to Red, who tries to roll over Blue/6, but all the color-numbers stand up to Red together, making Red very, very small. In the end, Blue/6 calls out to Red, and One declares “Red can count too”, and Red becomes 7. The last page declares: “Sometimes it just takes One.”

Intended Audience

Through the use of extremely simple (but beautiful) blobs of primary colors, One manages to avoid many of the culture-cues that might limit its appeal to marginalized audiences. It does seem more directed to shy children or bullying victims and bystanders than children who have problems with aggression, although I think it would do those children good to hear as well. It is also a simple and engaging story, and offers children, whether in an environment with bullying or not, exposure to colors and to counting 1-7.

Changes in the telling

There is nothing I change in reading this, although it does annoy me a little that all three major players (Blue, Red, and One) are “he”, and only one of the other colors (who do not initially stand up to Red) is gendered by pronoun use and is “she”. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about One being the only non-primary color, either (grey). And I have some ambivalence about the final message, as I go into below.

Right on!

I love so many things about this book. I love the beautiful paintings, which convey so much meaning and energy in a few simple strokes. I love the punny prose (yes, I am that kind of person). I love the use of color in the text, although I frequently find myself thinking it might be a hindrance to anyone with color deficiency in reading it. And I love the message that violence can be, and best is, countered not by passivity, but by active, unified nonviolence. The final message “Sometimes it just takes One” bothers me a little because in the story (and in real life, I would argue) although One acts as a catalyst, it does take all the color-numbers to counter Red’s aggression. But I like that it encourages children to be that One, who helps make a change for the better for everyone. I also love (though in a more ambivalent way) that Red is not kicked out or vanquished, but ultimately invited to be a part of the change as well.

(I am ambivalent because I dislike a zero-sum us-versus-them winner-and-losers attitude, but also dislike the idea that the victim/survivor has an obligation to reach out to hir aggressor. It’s not as simple as should-always-happen or should-never-happen, but depends on the particular dynamics and personal safety involved. If, as a single story must, one way must be picked, I do appreciate that One chooses reconciliation from a place of survivor-empowerment and strength.)

But does it appeal? The Boychick’s take

The Boychick is quite enchanted by this book. I think some of the concepts — of bullying, and standing up to bullying — might be a little advanced for him, but the story itself is compelling, he enjoys the appearance of the numbers, and it introduces the idea of nonviolent resistance in a not overly pedantic way. I think children both younger and older than he is (he’s a bit over three years old) would appreciate it, although it is recommended for 4-8 year olds; younger toddlers would find the bright colors on the plain white background appealing, and older children might appreciate the puns, such as the last line, the aforementioned “everyone felt… a little blue”, and Yellow’s declaration, upon her decision to stand up to Red and also “count” (transform into a number), of “Me Two!”

Buy it, Consider it, Skip it, or Compost it?

Buy it. One has a broad enough appeal, an engaging and amusing enough story, and an important enough message that I’d encourage anyone to add it to their own bookshelf.

Your Take

Have you read One? What do you think, and what do your kids think? What other books with anti-bullying or nonviolent protest themes have you read, and would you recommend them? Are there other books whose clever use of colors and numbers in an entirely separate story you’ve admired?

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