One

One of the moms in our home-preschool group had the brilliant idea of each of us choosing books to base our activities on each week. I wrote about the book I chose for last week, "If You Decide To Go To The Moon". But my friend who runs the Children's Dept at Barnes and Noble suggested the book "One" as well. I found a way to work it into my week about space and astronauts because I thought it was so wonderful.

"One" is the story of a group of colors who are all bullied by Red. Red specifically picks on Blue. Everyone notices but no one says anything because they are all afraid of Red too.

One day, however, the number 1 comes along and stands up to the Red, giving the other colors courage to do the same. He says to the others,

"If someone is mean and picks on me,
I for One, stand up and say, No."

As the colors stand up to Red, they change forms and become numbers who "count". Even timid little Blue eventually stands up to Red because of the example and encouragement of others.

In the end, the now stronger Blue offers Red a chance to "count", which Red accepts. The last line reads,

"Sometimes it takes just One."

At first this book may seem to be about colors and numbers and it certainly can be used for that. The illustrations and rhythm of the book are simple yet mesmerizing. The group of 5-year-olds sat in complete silence as I read to them. However, it is the deep lesson about standing up for what is right and for each other, unity and forgiveness that is simply profound. I would recommend this book for any age (including adults - sometimes we need the really simple lessons to get through our thick brains!)