We have been enjoying One by Kathryn Otoshi
so much I can’t wait to share this children’s book: it’s a real gem. It is a story with a powerful message told in a gentle way so that its accessible to even very young children. It can also be read on another level as a great introduction to colours and numbers.
The story begins with Blue. Blue is a quiet colour and sometimes he wishes he could be more sunny like Yellow or outgoing like Orange but when all is said and done, he is content…
Until Red comes along. Red is a bully and picks on Blue. The other colours comfort Blue but they never stand up to Red, so he gets bigger and bigger. Red becomes so dominant that all the colours are afraid of him.
Then One comes along.
One is friendly, funny, popular and Red doesn’t like it. Red shouts at all the colours and they all stop laughing and having fun. Then Red rolls up to One and tells him to “Stop laughing.” However, One does not shrink away, he stands up tall and says, “No.”
This stand against Red is a revelation to all the colours and they want to be like One so Yellow turns into ‘2’, green changes into ‘3’, purple becomes ‘4’ and orange ‘5’. The transformation makes Red furious and he seeks out Blue to start tormenting him again. Instead of shrinking into silence Blue turns into ‘6’ and stands up to Red. Then they all stand together and say, “No!”
In the face of this new confidence Red starts to roll away but the numbers show their intelligence and kindness by inviting Red to join in with them. They extend the hand of friendship to Red and he turns into ‘7’. He can join in because everyone counts!
Burt loves this story. He likes to join in and sit up straight and say, “No!” with all the other numbers and the story has given us the opportunity to talk about what you can say if someone is unkind and how important it is to include everyone and be a good friend to others. The colours turning into numbers to stand straight and stand up for themselves is clever and appeals to Burt.
Talk about
One by Kathryn Otoshi is a great book and you can enjoy it as a wonderful story or it can also be an excellent starting point for looking closely at the subject of bullying or number and colour.
Bullying is never easy to discuss. The most effective way to demonstrate what happens when someone bullies another that I’ve come across is The Crumpled Paper Lesson, a very simple lesson that has been around for years and it is difficult to track the original source. For The Crumpled Paper Lesson all you need is a piece of paper. Ask your child to take the paper and crumple it up, squash it, stand on it, stamp on it but don’t tear it. Now take the paper and smooth it out as best you can and notice all the creases and crumples and ‘scars’. Then ask your child to tell the paper that they are sorry. Does saying sorry, even if you mean it, make the scars go away? When someone bullies another the scars inside stay deep down and no matter what is said afterwards the scars are very hard to remove. It is best never to say those unkind things in the first place and save a lot of pain and sadness.
As Burt is still very young we concentrated on the message of being kind to others.
Here are some ideas or questions that you might want to use to start a discussion in your family. You know your family and which questions they are ready to tackle now and which can be left for another day:
- What does it mean if someone picks on you?
- How does it feel if someone says something unkind to you?
- What could you say if someone says something unkind to you?
- What could you say if someone says something unkind to your friends?
- Just because someone says something unkind does that make them a bad person?
- Have you ever said anything unkind to someone else?
- Why do you think Red was unkind to Blue?
- Why did the other colours not stand up to Red?
- Would there ever be a situation where it would be more sensible to just walk away from a bully, rather than standing up to them? What could you do instead?
- If someone says something that you don’t agree with does that make them wrong?
Crafts and activities for kids
One inspired us to make some pop-up art of the colours playing and then turning into numbers. We also looked at colours and numbers and created our own colourful 1-10 numberline. Have a look at the Pinterest Board full of crafts and activities for kids…
Or take a look at these activities to accompany reading the book:
- Read and Create Everyone Counts Pop-Up Art
- DBS School Counsellor Everyone Counts Collage
- Artchoo! Preschool Watercolour Project
- Playing in Prep Cool and Hot Colours
- Hands on As We Grow Tracing Numbers
What have you been reading this week?
As a child, I was bullied in school, and could have done with a book like this to help me through.
Very moving, and I cried reading this post x
Michelle recently posted…Day 19: The Amber Nectar [Back To The Magic Trip Report 2013]
I hope that by sharing this book it will help the next generation. Sorry the post dragged up difficult memories for you x
This sounds great! How do you manage to keep finding the really great looking books that I’ve never heard of? 😀
Will go and grab a post to link up
anna recently posted…Grandma’s Trunk - Collection of Literacy Games
There are so many great stories out there and I am really enjoying sharing the ones I love. Thank you for linking up your favourites too - I hope this linky is a great way for other to find wonderful new books.
This looks like such a lovely book and with such an important message. I love your list of questions, a great way to encourage discussion with a young child.
Jennifer recently posted…Simple felt Valentine’s Day gift bags
Gosh this looks a fabulous book for young children and a great way to tackle bullying.
I have definitely seen some “reds” in my time …..
Donna recently posted…Love Is … The moments that matter
I love the idea behind this book. It is one i shall be adding to the list now that Elle is at school. I always worry about bullying because she has ginger hair and a story like this could give her a little bit of strength x
Keri-Anne recently posted…Lately
Oh that is just brilliant! What a simple but clear way to talk about bullying with younger children. Love the illustrations too.
Sonya Cisco recently posted…Rainy Day Fun with the Hue Animation Studio
This sounds like a fab book for getting a very important message across. I don’t recall many books out there which tackle bullying for younger children. Great post
*puts of Colour Healer hat* - very interesting. I’m going to enjoy dissecting this. I love your input to these posts - with suggestions about how to develop the lessons from the story
x
Anya from Older Single Mum and The Healer recently posted…An App to Control your Heating from your Smartphone.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the colours x
I’m really loving finding new books through your recommendations. x
Liz Burton recently posted…Pea & Ham Fritters - Easy teatime treat or lunchbox filler
What a lovely book….very thought provoking and handles a difficult theme too. I also think that it would be useful if you have a child who is being a bully - to help them see that their words /actions do make an impact.
I love simple books, they allow so much more interpretation
Jen aka The Mad House recently posted…Something for the half-term holidays â let your kids become an Animal Champion!
What a beautiful looking book, and a fabulous way of discussing bullying x
Ali at agreenerlifeforus.com recently posted…A passion for upcycling
I love the fact its got an important message but also teaches colours and numbers, what a great book x
Cakesphotoslife (Angie) recently posted…San Francisco Paid Excursions
What a lovely book - and a great conversation starter for some really tricky issues
Vicky ( recently posted…What I wore Wednesday: #OOTD wheelchair fashion - simple handkerchief hem bold prints and metallics
Wow that looks like such a beautiful book! Makes a nice change from some of the usual ones you see about! x
Charlotte recently posted…Valentines nature suncatchers
This book sounds brilliant Kirsty, I’ve not seen it before. Although POD is coming back from nursery saying she’s done “nothing”, she’s been talking about colours the last couple of days. This book would be great. Must remember to write a post so I can link up
What a brilliant book x
Cass recently posted…Get outside and have some family fun….
This is a new book for me. It looks really interesting. I love your discussion questions.
Emma (My Little 3 and Me) recently posted…Counting and Times Tables Games
AWww what a sweet book!
sounds like an interesting book. My baby is too young just yet for it but i’ve bookmarked it for future reference!
Oh how lovely! We are so lucky to have so many amazing children’s books available to us! Mine are a bit big for this one but I think they’d love it nevertheless!
Chris at Thinly Spread recently posted…Simple Things - Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside!
Sounds like a wonderful book where it can help creatively and emotionally with its anti-bullying message.
Kriss MacDonald recently posted…Young Werewolf by Cornelia Funke
I love that book - such a great way of teaching colours and numbers
Kara recently posted…Job Jumpstarter Pack
Michelle @ Bod for tea says
What a powerful book - and so simple. I love that it’s accessible for younger readers. I’ve just joined in with a couple of books that we reviewed a while ago too. Hope that’s ok?
Michelle recently posted…Our first birth story - part one
This looks a beautiful book. I’m going to add it to my wish list, it would be perfect to use in the classroom
Catherine recently posted…There’s a Shark in the Bath by Sarah McIntyre
This is a lovely book, I love the colours and design. I also love the ideas for the activities - great post
Looks great! This week we have all been reading a book about Florida as I have been passing it round the family so everybody can choose where they want to go before I book holiday tickets. I love it when we all share a book, no matter what it is.
Joanne Mallon recently posted…Adventures in time and space and Cardiff
Love the bright colours. Would definitely like to get hold of this one. Thanks.
Emily recently posted…After Eight chocolate dessert pots (review)