One

Editorial Reviews From School Library Journal EMBRACING DIFFERENCES FromBooklist *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