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Nutshell Library
One Was Johnny: A Counting Book
‘One was Johnny -- but that's not all, count all the others who came to call.'
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
7 people are currently reading
610 people want to read
About the author
Maurice Sendak
400 books2,340 followersMaurice Sendak was a visionary American illustrator and writer best known for transforming the landscape of children's literature through his emotionally resonant stories and distinctive artistic style. He gained international acclaim with Where the Wild Things Are, a groundbreaking picture book that captured the emotional intensity of childhood through its honest portrayal of anger, imagination, and longing. Widely recognized for his ability to blend the whimsical with the profound, Sendak created works that resonated with both children and adults, challenging conventional notions of what children's books could be.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Sendak was a sickly child who spent much of his early life indoors, nurturing a love for books, drawing, and storytelling. The son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, he was deeply affected by the losses of the Holocaust, which shaped the darker emotional undercurrents in his work. His art was influenced by a range of sources, from comic strips and Mickey Mouse to Mozart, Blake, and German Romanticism. Though he began his career illustrating other writers’ books, he soon transitioned to authoring his own, beginning with Kenny’s Window and then The Sign on Rosie’s Door.
It was Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963, that solidified Sendak’s reputation as a master of children’s literature. The book, which won the Caldecott Medal, was initially controversial due to its depiction of unruly behavior and ambiguous emotional tone. However, it was later recognized as a revolutionary work that respected children’s inner lives and psychological complexity. This theme continued in his later works, including In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There, which formed a loose trilogy exploring the emotional and imaginative experiences of childhood. These books, celebrated for their dreamlike narratives and lush illustrations, often tackled fears, fantasies, and the challenges of growing up.
Throughout his career, Sendak illustrated more than a hundred books, working with authors such as Ruth Krauss and Else Holmelund Minarik. His visual style—characterized by its intricate detail, dynamic line work, and expressive characters—evolved over the decades, but always retained an unmistakable emotional intensity. He also designed sets and costumes for operas and ballets, bringing his imaginative worlds to the stage. Notably, he created productions for works by Mozart and Prokofiev, combining his love of classical music with theatrical design.
Sendak was known for his sharp wit, fierce independence, and deep empathy for children. He openly criticized the sanitized and moralistic tone of much of children's publishing, insisting instead that young readers deserved stories that acknowledged their full emotional range, including fear, grief, anger, and wonder. He was also an openly gay man in a long-term relationship, though he only spoke publicly about his sexuality later in life.
Later in his career, Sendak continued to produce new work, collaborate with artists and institutions, and advocate for intellectual freedom. His final books, including Bumble-Ardy and My Brother’s Book, reflected both a return to his childhood memories and a meditation on aging, love, and mortality. Though his stories often ventured into the dark or surreal, they remained rooted in a deep respect for the emotional reality of children and a belief in the power of imagination to confront life's challenges.
Maurice Sendak’s legacy endures in the countless writers and illustrators he inspired, the cultural impact of his stories, and the enduring affection readers of all ages hold for his wild things, mischievous children, and tender monsters. Through his work, he redefined what children’s literature could be: rich, honest, haunting, and, above all, deeply human.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Sendak was a sickly child who spent much of his early life indoors, nurturing a love for books, drawing, and storytelling. The son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, he was deeply affected by the losses of the Holocaust, which shaped the darker emotional undercurrents in his work. His art was influenced by a range of sources, from comic strips and Mickey Mouse to Mozart, Blake, and German Romanticism. Though he began his career illustrating other writers’ books, he soon transitioned to authoring his own, beginning with Kenny’s Window and then The Sign on Rosie’s Door.
It was Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963, that solidified Sendak’s reputation as a master of children’s literature. The book, which won the Caldecott Medal, was initially controversial due to its depiction of unruly behavior and ambiguous emotional tone. However, it was later recognized as a revolutionary work that respected children’s inner lives and psychological complexity. This theme continued in his later works, including In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There, which formed a loose trilogy exploring the emotional and imaginative experiences of childhood. These books, celebrated for their dreamlike narratives and lush illustrations, often tackled fears, fantasies, and the challenges of growing up.
Throughout his career, Sendak illustrated more than a hundred books, working with authors such as Ruth Krauss and Else Holmelund Minarik. His visual style—characterized by its intricate detail, dynamic line work, and expressive characters—evolved over the decades, but always retained an unmistakable emotional intensity. He also designed sets and costumes for operas and ballets, bringing his imaginative worlds to the stage. Notably, he created productions for works by Mozart and Prokofiev, combining his love of classical music with theatrical design.
Sendak was known for his sharp wit, fierce independence, and deep empathy for children. He openly criticized the sanitized and moralistic tone of much of children's publishing, insisting instead that young readers deserved stories that acknowledged their full emotional range, including fear, grief, anger, and wonder. He was also an openly gay man in a long-term relationship, though he only spoke publicly about his sexuality later in life.
Later in his career, Sendak continued to produce new work, collaborate with artists and institutions, and advocate for intellectual freedom. His final books, including Bumble-Ardy and My Brother’s Book, reflected both a return to his childhood memories and a meditation on aging, love, and mortality. Though his stories often ventured into the dark or surreal, they remained rooted in a deep respect for the emotional reality of children and a belief in the power of imagination to confront life's challenges.
Maurice Sendak’s legacy endures in the countless writers and illustrators he inspired, the cultural impact of his stories, and the enduring affection readers of all ages hold for his wild things, mischievous children, and tender monsters. Through his work, he redefined what children’s literature could be: rich, honest, haunting, and, above all, deeply human.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
January 29, 2020
I wouldn’t say this was Maurice’s best by any means. This book is ok, but it’s dated for beginners. I think this is good for people who want to read Maurice’s whole catalog, like me.
It’s a short book. Johnny lives alone, happily. Each number brings another animal inside his house creating havoc. At 10, Johnny screams that he will eat anyone left. So, each number down, we lose an animal until Johnny is happily alone.
The nephew thought Johnny was funny and some of the animals like the monkey delivering the mail, but he didn’t think it a great book. He did read the entire thing to me. He gave this 2 stars. He thought it looked like a child drew it, which I’m sure Maurice intended it to look because I know he can paint beautifully in his other works.
It’s a short book. Johnny lives alone, happily. Each number brings another animal inside his house creating havoc. At 10, Johnny screams that he will eat anyone left. So, each number down, we lose an animal until Johnny is happily alone.
The nephew thought Johnny was funny and some of the animals like the monkey delivering the mail, but he didn’t think it a great book. He did read the entire thing to me. He gave this 2 stars. He thought it looked like a child drew it, which I’m sure Maurice intended it to look because I know he can paint beautifully in his other works.
April 10, 2014
“One Was Johnny” is another classic book from Maurice Sendak’s popular Nutshell Library and it is about how a young boy named Johnny wanted to be alone, but he gets some uninvited guests while the book counts down on how many guests come into his house. “One Was Johnny” is the perfect counting book for children who want to learn how to count in a creative and fun way.
Maurice Sendak’s illustrations are simply simplistic yet hilarious and creative at the same time. Maurice Sendak used mainly black, yellow, white, blue and green colors to emphasize the simplicity of the book’s counting theme and Maurice Sendak uses the same little boy that he uses for his other Nutshell Library book “Pierre” as the boy also has a blue jacket and blue pants on. Maurice Sendak’s verses are simply creative as he describes the various kinds of guests in his house by using numbers one through ten to explain the numbering system and the way that he makes each verse with each number rhyme with each other is extremely creative. Another great thing about this book is that it was transformed into a TV special that was sung by Carole King, which is extremely catchy to listen to and children will definitely take a true liking to this book if they watch the Carole King version of this book.
Parents should know that there are some images that show the characters biting each other such as the turtle biting the dog’s tail and a blackbird pecking Johnny’s nose. Parents should tell their children that it is not nice to bite other people and if parents are worried about the images being too graphic for small children, they do not have to worry much since the images are not graphic as it just shows the characters bite each other but there is no blood.
“One Was Johnny” is a brilliant book for children who want to learn how to count in a hilarious and unique way and also for children who are true fans of Maurice Sendak’s brilliant works. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since smaller children might be a bit unsettled by the images of the characters biting each other.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
February 15, 2024
A perfectly delightful way to learn how to count to ten. Very simple, but I love the expressions of the different intruders in Johnny's house.
August 28, 2013
3* art
3* numbers concept
3* numbers concept
October 23, 2025
sí soy. (para enseñar a contar). y hay un mono mensajero.
October 31, 2020
A few weeks ago, Elizabeth Bird posed a question on her blog: Which Maurice Sendak book are you? Though I never had the chance to reply to her post, I knew my answer almost immediately. One Was Johnny, about a little boy who lives by himself and likes it like that, perfectly describes my introverted personality, and much of my behavior during childhood.
Johnny becomes overwhelmed as more and more creatures invade his house, coming in uninvited and making themselves at home. A rat and a cat are bad enough, but things reach fever pitch when a blackbird pecks Johnny's nose, a tiger comes in selling clothes, and a robber steals his shoe. "What should Johnny do?" the text questions. His solution? He threatens to eat every last one of his guests if they don't leave before he finishes counting backwards from ten.
This book represents everything I love about Maurice Sendak's work. He understands that somewhat darker side of childhood, filled with frustrations, annoyances, and worst of all, other, more obnoxious kids. So many children's books promote sharing, togetherness, and community. I can think of very few that sing the praises of solitude, and which demonstrate an understanding that sometimes other people are pushy and annoying, and we just want them to go away. This book rings so true because it doesn't force Johnny to share with his pushy houseguests, or to make room for them, or to apologize for wanting to be left alone. Rather, Johnny is the master of his domain and he throws all of those obnoxious creatures right out on the street! In my experience, well-meaning adults panic when kids show signs of wanting to be alone. They assume it means the child is dysfunctional in some way, or not a team player, but for the introverted child, and even introverted adults like me, the notion of all of those people in your space can be extremely overwhelming, and I think it's important to teach kids how to protect that personal space, and that it's okay to like being alone.
As a counting book, this book doesn't work so well, since there aren't necessarily the correct number of countable objects on each page. It does work as a lesson in counting to ten, but I don't know that it really strongly illustrates the meaning of each number. Still, though, the illustrations, which are all drawn against the same background of Johnny's kitchen table, are greatly entertaining as the chaos of the scene increases, and the changes in Johnny's expressions could almost tell the entire story on their own.
Johnny becomes overwhelmed as more and more creatures invade his house, coming in uninvited and making themselves at home. A rat and a cat are bad enough, but things reach fever pitch when a blackbird pecks Johnny's nose, a tiger comes in selling clothes, and a robber steals his shoe. "What should Johnny do?" the text questions. His solution? He threatens to eat every last one of his guests if they don't leave before he finishes counting backwards from ten.
This book represents everything I love about Maurice Sendak's work. He understands that somewhat darker side of childhood, filled with frustrations, annoyances, and worst of all, other, more obnoxious kids. So many children's books promote sharing, togetherness, and community. I can think of very few that sing the praises of solitude, and which demonstrate an understanding that sometimes other people are pushy and annoying, and we just want them to go away. This book rings so true because it doesn't force Johnny to share with his pushy houseguests, or to make room for them, or to apologize for wanting to be left alone. Rather, Johnny is the master of his domain and he throws all of those obnoxious creatures right out on the street! In my experience, well-meaning adults panic when kids show signs of wanting to be alone. They assume it means the child is dysfunctional in some way, or not a team player, but for the introverted child, and even introverted adults like me, the notion of all of those people in your space can be extremely overwhelming, and I think it's important to teach kids how to protect that personal space, and that it's okay to like being alone.
As a counting book, this book doesn't work so well, since there aren't necessarily the correct number of countable objects on each page. It does work as a lesson in counting to ten, but I don't know that it really strongly illustrates the meaning of each number. Still, though, the illustrations, which are all drawn against the same background of Johnny's kitchen table, are greatly entertaining as the chaos of the scene increases, and the changes in Johnny's expressions could almost tell the entire story on their own.
July 17, 2025
A cleverly fun numerical tale!
It gets asked for often in our home. The kids like the repetition that comes with counting up to ten and back down. We just add a little “it’s not better to be all alone though, is it?”
Take a sneak peek inside the book and see what we did after reading it: watch my reel!
Ages: 2 - 5
Content Considerations: Johnny gets a little grumpy and thinks it’s better to be alone to read.
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It gets asked for often in our home. The kids like the repetition that comes with counting up to ten and back down. We just add a little “it’s not better to be all alone though, is it?”
Take a sneak peek inside the book and see what we did after reading it: watch my reel!
Ages: 2 - 5
Content Considerations: Johnny gets a little grumpy and thinks it’s better to be alone to read.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!
January 27, 2016
This is a counting book as each page number increases so does the amount of characters in the story. The setting is Johnny's room and it does not change throughout the book. Johnny is reading a book in a blue shirt and he looks happy. His shirt is the brightest color in this book. The rest of the picture is drawn by black lines and light colors. The picture spreads on both pages and is symmetrical although Johnny positions on the left side. Suddenly, animals and a robber come into his room one by one so the room is crowded when its page is 10. When counting backwards from ten to one, the robber and the animals go out of the room one after another. After all of them disappear, Johnny regains his happiness. It is not easy to make a story according to numbers in order but this story is well organized.
The story line is simple but it has consonant closure. Things become complicated when a rat jumps onto his shelf. As more animals come, it leads the story to a climax. When the number reaches 10, this story reaches its climax. The problem is solved in the resolution part when the intruders go out of the room one after another. This story ends with a combination of structural and psychological closure when Johnny leaves his room by himself.
The story line is simple but it has consonant closure. Things become complicated when a rat jumps onto his shelf. As more animals come, it leads the story to a climax. When the number reaches 10, this story reaches its climax. The problem is solved in the resolution part when the intruders go out of the room one after another. This story ends with a combination of structural and psychological closure when Johnny leaves his room by himself.
September 26, 2015
I have a lot of complaints about this book. Starting off with;
1 was Johnny who lived by himself though obviously pre pubescent.
2 was the presence of a known robber and Johnny's apparent REFUSAL to call the police, as one obviously should do when one is a prepubescent in the presence of a robber.
3 was the BLATANT murder depicted in a children's book by suspect The Cat.
4 was the Tiger chasing the robber out of the house where Johnny lived alone and leaving the Murder Cat, the banana thieving monkey, and of course Johnny who lived alone as a unsupervised minor.
5 was the monkey who did not deliver any mail, instead choosing to READ OTHER PEOPLES MAIL which is a federal offense in the presence of a minor, while also dropping mail on Johnny's carpet whilst hanging from a light.
These problems I'm afraid had cause to make me leave off the last star. When one of these grown adult animals (and robber) finally gives in and adopts Johnny and cooks him Some soup with rice I will consider giving in with that last star but until then I must withhold it.
1 was Johnny who lived by himself though obviously pre pubescent.
2 was the presence of a known robber and Johnny's apparent REFUSAL to call the police, as one obviously should do when one is a prepubescent in the presence of a robber.
3 was the BLATANT murder depicted in a children's book by suspect The Cat.
4 was the Tiger chasing the robber out of the house where Johnny lived alone and leaving the Murder Cat, the banana thieving monkey, and of course Johnny who lived alone as a unsupervised minor.
5 was the monkey who did not deliver any mail, instead choosing to READ OTHER PEOPLES MAIL which is a federal offense in the presence of a minor, while also dropping mail on Johnny's carpet whilst hanging from a light.
These problems I'm afraid had cause to make me leave off the last star. When one of these grown adult animals (and robber) finally gives in and adopts Johnny and cooks him Some soup with rice I will consider giving in with that last star but until then I must withhold it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2016
In his humorous counting book One Was Johnny, Maurice Sendak uses rhymes and whimsical illustrations to tell a silly tale while teaching kids about numbers at the same time.
The book is small enough for little hands to enjoy with ease. Sendak uses a palette of mainly grays and blues with a little black and yellow splashed in. The open door is always in the same spot on the right side of the page. So is Johnny and his furniture. This allows the reader to focus on the only difference between pages: the next thing that enters Johnny’s house (the next number in the counting sequence. When the numbers reach 10, the pattern abruptly stops with a spread containing only text on a white background. From there, the sequence repeats itself backwards!
I found myself laughing at this fun little story. Kids and adults both will enjoy the facial expressions depicted in the illustrations. Some may even notice striking similarities between Johnny and Max (from Where The Wild Things Are).
The book is small enough for little hands to enjoy with ease. Sendak uses a palette of mainly grays and blues with a little black and yellow splashed in. The open door is always in the same spot on the right side of the page. So is Johnny and his furniture. This allows the reader to focus on the only difference between pages: the next thing that enters Johnny’s house (the next number in the counting sequence. When the numbers reach 10, the pattern abruptly stops with a spread containing only text on a white background. From there, the sequence repeats itself backwards!
I found myself laughing at this fun little story. Kids and adults both will enjoy the facial expressions depicted in the illustrations. Some may even notice striking similarities between Johnny and Max (from Where The Wild Things Are).
May 28, 2009
This is an original silly counting book, given in rhyme and cumulative verse. For each number up to ten, a different animal or character joins Johnny in his house; when it gets too crowded, he threatens to eat everyone and they leave one by one. Sendak's artwork is delightful, and the slapstick humor and anticipatory drama is very fun. This book may not actually teach children to count unless they memorize it, but it does have the slight advantage of going backwards as well as forwards. The great draw, of course, is the artwork and humor. Not a bad addition to a children's library, although Alfie's 123 is a better choice for actually teaching numbers.
Want to read
September 1, 2016One Was Johnny: A Counting Book is a light, well-illustrated book that teaches children how to count to ten and back down to one again using many animal characters. While Johnny is counting to ten, he is visited by one visitor after another until he loses his patience and he decides to count backwards until every one of his visitors is gone.
An activity for extension could be to ask students which visitor they think Johnny would like to stay with him and and then write a story imagining if the visitor came to stay with Johnny for an extended period of time.
An activity for extension could be to ask students which visitor they think Johnny would like to stay with him and and then write a story imagining if the visitor came to stay with Johnny for an extended period of time.
April 30, 2014
His counting book is One was Johnny. The story is a rhyme about a boy named Johnny and the world around him. As it counts up, the characters enter the room. Each page, a new character enters until they get to ten. It then counts back down and each character leaves again. This book continues with Maurice’s Sendak style of using pencil and only a few other colors. He again chose to use yellow and blue. Green is used only a couple of times on the pages with the most intricate illustrations. The reading level is low enough that early readers could pick it up. It sounds better read aloud though.
October 7, 2015
I happened across a beat up, marked-on original edition copy of this book in the library and checked it out for my 2-year-old. He LOVES it. He has the whole thing memorized, I just turn the page and say a number and he tells me the rest of the story for each page. He also says "bye!" to each animal/character when they leave during the countdown in the second half of the book. Today is the library due date and I'm hopping on the net to get our own copy.
June 22, 2019
I wanted a quick Sendak read-aloud for my playtime group, to promote an exhibit of the author's original artwork at one of our libraries. While older kids in the group (kindergarten and up, old enough to count forward or backward) hung on, the tiny trim size and mild illustrations didn't snag the attention of my youngest readers. A Sendak classic, for sure, with an enjoyably twisted ending... but to me, not his strongest work (and tough to contend with more modern children's literature).
June 4, 2008
A unique counting book because of its good meter/rhyme and its use of advanced vocabulary (for a preschooler). The Scholastic Video version (put into song) is quite enjoyable for my daughter. She wasn't deeply impressed with the book, however, having seen the video first. I find it pleasant to read aloud, which is more than I can say for a great many children's books these days.
September 20, 2015
I really enjoyed this one as a child and occasionally still flip through it.
It is a good book for teaching children to count.
It is a good book for teaching children to count.
January 14, 2012
This book was a nice rhyming book that not only counted from one to ten but counted backwards. Prek-2 grade may enjoy this counting book. The words were basic so emergent readers should be able to handle the words.
February 5, 2012
How much did I enjoy "One Was Johnny"? Let me count the ways.
1. The story works in its simplicity.
2. The illustrations added so much to the story.
3. The characters are memorable.
4. It's fun.
5. It's a bit weird.
1. The story works in its simplicity.
2. The illustrations added so much to the story.
3. The characters are memorable.
4. It's fun.
5. It's a bit weird.
September 25, 2017
Classic Sendak illustrations, a fun rhyming scheme, silly animals, and a bit of a story to go along with your counting lesson. What more could you want from a counting book? I can't wait for my son to be old enough to count along with me.
July 29, 2011
Learn counting with this poem and the ABC's with Alligators All Around
July 6, 2012
One was Johnny who lived by himself, Carol King made these songs for me! And always Sendak's illustrations!
July 4, 2017
A favorite when I was very young. Nice to find it holds up.
November 6, 2017
Loved. Wish it had been written when I needed to learn to count.
June 19, 2018
An enjoyable counting book - from 1 - 10, then 10 - 1, of Johnny and each intruder in his house. Funny.
October 11, 2018
It's a counting book. It goes from 1 to 10 and then back to 1 like nobody's business.
May 2, 2019
Cute book about a boy with too many visitors, so he threatens to eat everybody unless they leave.
The rat probably was eaten anyway by the cat.
A little sad really.
The rat probably was eaten anyway by the cat.
A little sad really.
November 15, 2019
One was Johnny is a counting book that starts and ends with the same page, 1 was Johnny who lived by himself. It counts up to 10 through funny rhymes with animals coming into his house, “3 was a cat who chased the rat, 4 was a dog who came in and sat.” Then when it gets to 10 there are way too many people in Johnny’s house so he says he will count down by 10 and they must all be gone or he will eat them. This is a great book for children learning how to count because it counts forward and backward using a funny story and rhymes. Even as an adult I enjoyed reading this book and thought the rhymes were quite clever and overall a fun story to read. The book is really small which is perfect for students to hold and learn how to count forwards and backwards.
August 30, 2025
One Was Johnny has always been close to my heart. I remember as a child seeing reenactments of Sendak's stories with Carole King doing the vocals. Maurice Sendak's illustrations are featured, and they are absolutely beautiful. Having Carole King featured is also the icing on the cake.
Whenever I hear the title of One Was Johnny I immediately think of this video. It's actually how I learned how to count from 1-10. While watching this video, I would always count with my fingers the number Carole King was singing. To this day, whenever I hear someone read the story or I see the video of Carole King singing the reenactment, I still count with my fingers :). Goes to show you how powerful stories and music can be, especially combined.
Whenever I hear the title of One Was Johnny I immediately think of this video. It's actually how I learned how to count from 1-10. While watching this video, I would always count with my fingers the number Carole King was singing. To this day, whenever I hear someone read the story or I see the video of Carole King singing the reenactment, I still count with my fingers :). Goes to show you how powerful stories and music can be, especially combined.
August 4, 2018
I thought that this was a very funny and witty way to learn how to count. The little boy in the book, (Johnny) lives by himself, and gets invited by a variety of animals and a human, all equaling to a total number of 10 visitors. I would use this book to teach Pre-K and Kindergarten-aged students how to count to 10, and how to count backwards with it as well. I really enjoyed Maurice Sendak's illustrations and found them to be innocent and age appropriate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews