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MARGARET’S UNICORN

Name: MARGARET’S UNICORN
Author: Briony May Smith
ISBN: 978-1-984896-53-7

by Briony May Smith ; illustrated by Briony May Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 2020

Unicorns are popular among young readers, and this offering will satisfy.

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Imagine what it would be like to find a mythical creature.

Young Margaret doesn’t have to imagine. After she and her parents move to a mountain cottage, she explores her new surroundings. Walking back, she discovers a baby unicorn tangled in weeds and carries it home. Margaret nurtures the lovely creature, assuring it of its herd’s spring return. Seasons change, nature blossoms, and girl and animal enjoy delightful activities. The two benefit each other: The unicorn thrives under his guardian’s tender care; Margaret’s life grows happier and less lonely. The unicorn acclimates to his human and cozy domesticity; Margaret misses her old home less. Inevitability prevails, though. Spring returns and with it, the unicorn’s mother; they depart, a bittersweet scenario. Sometime later, while playing with a new friend, Margaret is astonished when her unicorn, now grown, returns briefly, then disappears; Margaret takes this well. Children with a taste for the fantasy world who wish for magical encounters should enjoy this sweet, gently told story with an old-fashioned feel. The transience of magic is implied in Margaret’s understanding and acceptance of the unicorn’s comings and goings. Colorful, atmospheric illustrations enliven the country settings and serve the natural world and shifting seasons well; Margaret and the unicorn’s relationship is charmingly depicted. Margaret and her family present white; her new pal has brown skin. The baby unicorn is dappled.

Unicorns are popular among young readers, and this offering will satisfy. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-984896-53-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DRAGONS & MYTHICAL CREATURES | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
TINY JENNY
by Briony May Smith ; illustrated by Briony May Smith

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LITTLE BOOKS OF THE LITTLE BRONTËS
by Sara O'Leary ; illustrated by Briony May Smith

- BOOK REVIEW
A PRACTICAL PRESENT FOR PHILIPPA PHEASANT
by Briony May Smith ; illustrated by Briony May Smith

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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TINY T. REX AND THE IMPOSSIBLE HUG

by Jonathan Stutzman ; illustrated by Jay Fleck ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.

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With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?

Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)