One

I recently received the best gift in the mail.  It is a special edition of the books One and Zero by Kathryn Otoshi.

I immediately sat down and read both books, and enjoyed them immensely.  Then I left the book out for my kids to pick up.  My nine-year-old did, read both books and immediately came to me to say, “Mom, these books are great!  You need to write about them on your blog!”

She’s right – and I am.

One is a book about the difference one person (or number) can make when (s)he takes a stand.  In the book, Red starts pushing around all the other colors.  He intimidates the rest of the colors so much that they start to shrink and Red gets bigger and bigger.  Then One shows up, and tells Red ‘no.’  His courage gives the other colors courage to stand up to Red too.  But the book doesn’t end there.  You’ll have to read it, because I don’t want to give away the ending.

In Zero, Zero wants to be like the other numbers, and tries to make herself into each of them.  She wants to have value.  The other numbers tell her, “Look inside yourself.  You need to be you!”  She thinks that’s great advice, but when she does, she sees a big, empty hole.  The numbers encourage her to look again, and suddenly she sees all sorts of possibilities.

Both One and Zero are clever stories about numbers, value and being true.  These classic stories span all ages, and deserve space on your bookshelf.