IF I HAD A UNICORN

What could be the perfect pet? A fairy? A giant? Maybe a mermaid? The child in this story tells of all the wonderful things they would do if only they had a unicorn.

A small child with brown skin and short, curly hair appears to be in a museum admiring medieval unicorn tapestries when a wish for one becomes reality. The child is whisked away by the unicorn, who provides sweet treats for every meal, long rides on its back, and even demonstrations of its magic. The unicorn turns a backyard into a colorful jungle of flowers, and the gloomy bedroom of an older kid who’s clearly into emo into a fairy-tale scene complete with a surprising change of attire. Readers will enjoy pointing out characters and items they will recognize from other fairy tales and stories, and they will have fun with some of the very clever rhymes in which the illustrations do double duty as rebuses by representing missing text. Readers learn that unicorns’ “favorite food is ice cream, / vanilla just one scoop. / I think they do a multicolored, / unicorny…”; a turn of the page reveals the missing rhyming word. Hint: It starts with the letter P and will have preschoolers in gales of giggles. This story is an excellent lap read, and the fun rhyming text and bright, easily decoded, whimsical illustrations with plenty of white space also make it a winning read-aloud. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.3-by-18.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.)

Children will enjoy the experience of reading this book again and again, noticing something new each time.