DON'T CALL ME GRUMPYCORN

Four friends go to space.

Unicorn wants to visit “the most fabulous planet in the universe.” His friends Mermaid (who’s tan-skinned), Narwhal, and Jellyfish tag along, and though Unicorn acts grumpy to see them, he’s secretly pleased—he had been “nervous about going into space all by himself.” They pass a planet full of merfolk, another with narwhals, and another with jellyfish, but Unicorn points out that going into space was his idea, and he gets to choose the planet. They find one populated entirely with other unicorns identical to the protagonist (it’s hinted that he is the only one of his kind on Earth), but the alien unicorns are annoyed by Jellyfish’s nervous hiccups and, stating that only “fabulous unicorns” are welcome here, force Mermaid, Narwhal, and Jellyfish back into their rocket. Unicorn goes with them, preaching, “They were not very fabulous because they were not very kind to you.” This brightly illustrated picture book relies on the inherent ridiculousness of creatures in space but never coheres into a story. There are too many questions raised about the different planets, why Unicorn wants to leave Earth in the first place, and whether a didactic sentence about kindness is worth hinging a narrative climax on. The shallow cruelty of the rainbow-maned, limp-hoofed unicorns shown working out or having their hair styled in salons could be read as caricatures of gay men, but it will likely go over children's heads. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A squandered opportunity for intergalactic hijinks.