Peggy Moss, illustrated by Penny Weber,
One Of Us
Tilbury House Publishers, 2010.

Rating: E*

This is a great readaloud for the start of the school year to encourage discussions about friendship and getting to know new people in the class. It shows how students might stereotype a new person and judge them by one characteristic. It also shows how people might break away from being labelled and simply be themselves. This important topic relates well to anti-bullying themes in place in most elementary schools and would be a valuable resource for the school or classroom library.

Roberta is a new student at Baker School. Her classmates immediately try to place her into one of the classroom cliques by judging her by her hair style, her playground interests, and even her lunch. Each time a group tells her, "You are one of us." After being with the "straight-up-hair" group, the "monkey bar" group, the "flower lunchbox" group and the "pita roll-up" lunch group, she finally takes a stand for who she is and sits by herself. She then meets other children like herself who have many interests and who respect and enjoy each other's differences.

'Who are you?' Anna asked.
'Roberta James,'  Roberta said.
'I mean- what are you?' Anna said.
'I am a straight-up-hair girl who climbs monkey bars and carries a flowered lunchbox with a pita roll-up in it. And I wear running shoes,' Roberta said. 
'Oh-,' Anna said, very slowly.  'So you're one of US.'
'I doubt it,' Roberta said.  'What are you?'
'I am a trumpet-playing girl who likes baseball and car racing and ballet,' Anna said.
'I love building things and spicy food and origami and bowling,' Jason said.

The large, colourful pictures make this book an excellent readaloud.  It is interesting to see the array of feelings that are portrayed as Roberta is alternately welcomed or shunned by different cliques at the school.

A simple follow-up to this book would be to create All About Me posters that reflect the interests of each student in the class. Students could compare their differences and similarities.

Thematic Links: Friendship; New Student at School; All About Me Theme

Lori Austin
Vol. 16, number 1
October 2010

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.