One

by Ruth Forman, Katura Gaines (Illustrator)

From the bestselling author of Curls, Glow, Bloom, and Ours comes a counting board book about ten friends who add up to something wonderful!

One
only one

but now we are two
and now we are three

Introduce young ones to the concept of counting from one to ten while celebrating themes of friendship and community.

Genres: Picture Books, Counting, Childrens, Sports, Number

30 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 29, 2023

Reviews

[Jillian]

Concept board book. Counting, but the characters read older than the content. Bonus for the representation of various natural hairstyles on the all Black girls team of characters.

[Elizabeth]

This was one of Betsy Bird's Great Board Books of 2023, and I appreciate its existence, but it didn't wow me?

We start with one girl, getting her hair brushed by her mom.  "Only one [page turn] but now we are two [page turn] and now we are three" and so on.  Black girls with various hairstyles (and skin tones) -- wearing numbered jerseys, so you can point out the numeral to the child as you say the number -- accumulate on the steps of a school building.

The kids chat amongst themselves, and at 8, some of the gathered kids start playing jumprope.  Number 10 brings a soccer ball, and then an adult (possibly #1's mom, I realized in reread) takes a photo of them together on the steps -- "and now we are ten! [page turn] but we know we are one!"  There are 11 team members on the field at a time in a soccer game, so I kind of wish they had gone up to 11, but I understand 10 as a natural stopping point.  (Though there are books that stop at different numbers due to the context -- like Latke's First Hanukkah , which goes up to 8, and was also recommended by Betsy Bird this year.  According to my partner, youth soccer can have smaller team sizes, so maybe they're playing U11 or U12? which play 9v9 plus a goalkeeper.)

So, it's a basic counting book that centers Black girls -- which is a great thing to exist.

Edit: Okay, going back to Betsy Bird's review, I had totally missed this bit:

First we start out with one girl, her hair in a puff on her head. “… but now we are two.” A second girl comes, and at this point you might notice that she’s gathered her hair into two ponytails. As they’re joined by more and more friends, each subsequent girl has her hair styled in such a way where you can count that number on her head. There might be six braids with the sixth girl, or ten gathered braids into individual buns.

I had noticed that the first half of the kids had puffs and then we moved to braids, and I'd admired #10's cool buns when she first shows up, but I had missed the actual counting, so solid props for that.

[Kelly {SpaceOnTheBookcase]]

One by Ruth Forman is a children’s board book that combines counting to the number ten with a theme of a team being one. The illustrations by Katura Gaines are bright and lively. I especially like that each number matches the number on the jersey so children can associate the number in both word and numerical form. The book is also filled with diverse characters which is refreshing to see!

Thank you Little Simon for gifting me a copy.

[M.]

The first time I read this book on my own, I wasn't too impressed. On a second read with my child, I realized that the images are actually geared to cue counting in your brain in different ways. The number of puffs or braids each girl has in the pictures as you count along actually made me laugh out loud when I caught it and is a very cute touch. I think once my toddler begins counting reading, this will be a great book to revisit.

[Jackson’s Books & Music]

This is really sweet! Celebrating Black girls, their hair, and their friendship and solidarity. The girls are on the same sports team and are “one” team, but there’s of course a deeper symbolism, too.

[NayDoubleU]

Simple and adorable

Love everything about this simple but gorgeous book! I love that both my daughters can see themselves in these illustrations. Interested in more the author has in store

[Jocelin]

A great counting book. The book is also about working as a team

[Syntha Green]

Beautifully illustrated

[Y.Poston]

great beginning counting book

[SamSamSam]

Lots of counting to be done! Early math

[Killah Moon]

Wish it had more words lol but it’s super cute. Love the illustrations. And the hair styles !! Love love love !!

[Rae the Reviewer]

I am in love with Ruth Forman's illustration style. Her books are my go-to gift for baby showers.

[Nicole Smith]

Fun counting book using a girls team with numbered jerseys - teaching that we can be individuals and part of a collective whole at the same time!

[Addie]

Cute. Really grabbed 20 month old's attention.

[Erin]

Cute counting book

[Jay]

Cute and visually clever with hairstyles that count off the numbers too