The One and Only Question

Written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles

Illustrated by Ken Daley

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-965-4

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

March 2025 

 

Most children starting at a new school worry a bit, or a lot. They know what they've experienced previously, good or bad, and project in onto the next school, worrying that it could be worse or at least not as good as the last school. The worry and anticipation can be heartbreaking. But if that worry is wrapped up in remembered racism, it can be multiplied and overwhelm, and that first day might be envisioned as the worst day ever. Zeke does just this.

From The One and Only Question, written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles, illustrated by Ken Daley

For Zeke, his great worry is that he will be called the "N-word" as he'd heard at his old school. And getting ready for that first day seems to herald the worst day possible. He can't wear his favourite shirt. He can't find his hair pick. The cat doesn't want him to leave. And it's raining.

From The One and Only Question, written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles, illustrated by Ken Daley

When he finally gets on the bus, it's stuffy and smelly. And, although one boy stares at him, no one speaks to Zeke. Once in his class, a hot portable, his teacher demands all the students' attention and has no patience for Zeke's nervousness. Every moment, he anticipates hearing the N-word, "But nothing happens...yet."

From The One and Only Question, written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles,  illustrated by Ken Daley

After lunch, the kids run around the track. When he's approached by one boy, Zeke waits for that horrific word, even balling up his hands into fists. But Jay only tells Zeke that he's really fast for a nine-year-old. And on the bus ride back, there's a new driver, a man of colour, who greets the boy and asks about his first day, and Zeke gets an invitation from Jay to join him playing basketball. With that, Zeke's outlook flips, hopeful that...

Tomorrow could be even better.

He just knows it.

Stories like this are heartbreaking, knowing that young children of colour hear racial slurs levelled against them at school where they should feel safe. For Zeke to anticipate the worst is more than disappointing. It's tragic. And it's even more so because it's based on the experience of Norma Charles' and Andrea Charles' grandson and son. The text of The One and Only Question conveys with such poignancy Zeke's apprehension for a horrible day, even at a new school where everything should feel fresh. Instead of expecting goodness, new friends, and positive beginnings, his viewpoint and mood are fearful, and cannot help but cloud every interaction he has, from riding the school bus or eating his lunch, to playing outside. He anticipates "the worst day ever" and understandably sees everything through that lens. But Norma Charles and Andrea Charles also give Zeke the opportunity to pull back that fatalism and see a positive interaction when someone reaches out to him and then when others do the same. He's not rooted in the belief that things will only be horrible. He sees around his fears and looks at these interactions from a different perspective and sees what he likes. That's both courageous and strong.

 

I don't know if Ken Daley's African-Caribbean roots helped him connect with the child in Norma Charles's and Andrea Charles's story, but he shows us a boy whose worry is deep and his experiences with racism palpable. Ken Daley, who also illustrated I Am Cherished and Granny's Kitchen, gives us a boy whose body language expresses his anger, his despair, his fear, and finally his relief and even joy. The art keeps the colours around Zeke bright and bold, like the strength that is within the boy, though around him it might be raining or dull or worrisome.

From The One and Only Question, written by Norma Charles and Andrea Charles,  illustrated by Ken Daley

I'm very pleased that no one ever used the N-word in The One and Only Question, though I'm not naive enough to think it's not a common slur heard by Black children and adults. (Norma Charles and Andrea Charles include ideas for students, caregivers, and teachers on how to handle racism and bullying.) But Zeke demonstrates how past trauma with that smear can impact all future dealings. Thankfully some new people in his life demonstrated that he doesn't have to worry about hearing it from them, and he can begin to enjoy the positives that can come from new beginnings.