The One and Only Me

by Marilyn Singer, Nicole Rubel (Illustrator)

A little girl discovers that while her physical characteristics are like those of her mother or uncle, she is unique and special.

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Reviews

[Emma]

I feel that this book is important for children of all ages. Throughout the book, it talks about how the girl has similar characteristics to members of her family, all while still being her unique self. It is important to teach children about the power of being themselves and owning who they are at a young age, so they grow up with good self esteem. But it is also important for children to feel connected to their loved ones, and the author does a wonderful job of capturing both of those things in one beautiful story.

[Samantha]

The One and Only Me was a good read very educational. Would be a great read to younger kids just starting to learn about their body parts. Through the book it compares the girl to all her family members and what they have in common. While doing that it points out which body part they are talking about. The illustrations are nicely done, when they compare the girl to her family members everything is identical which adds more to the story to truly show what the book is talking about.

[Kara Buck]

This book talks about physical traits and how this little girl has different features that look like other members in her family. It says that she has a little bit of everyone but there's only one of her. It's a good book that shows self love and acceptance.