Review Detail

THIS IS NOT A UNICORN is a charming and fun picture book. The book begins with a seeming unicorn appearing for a little girl - but wait! This is not a unicorn! The horn on the unicorn changes into different objects that it uses for tasks like opening doors, blowing up balloons, and watering a garden, which are turned into phrases like "open-up-the-door-icorn." Each descriptor is accompanied by neon colored illustrations of the unicorn and girl together. The story ends by concluding that it's a "perfect-friend-for-you-nicorn" or "you-nicorn" for short.

What I loved: This was such a clever and cute rhyming story. Each page really rolled off the tongue and was fun to read aloud and for little ears to hear. The neon-colored, cartoonish illustrations will have a lot of appeal to young readers as each silly thing is depicted where described. The unicorn and girl do imaginative things from every day tasks to taking a rocket into outer space. This is really a story to spark creativity as children can think of what they would like to do with a unicorn whose horn can be anything.

The writing is clear and easy to read throughout, which will make it work well for any time. The silly ideas are sure to make some children giggle, and the repetitive phrasing will work well for toddlers and preschoolers who can appreciate the patterns and rhymes. Another cool feature is the inclusion of a download for the audiobook version (which includes a sound for children to know when to turn the page) for some independent reading fun.

Final verdict: THIS IS NOT A UNICORN is a delightful and entertaining picture book that will charm readers with its rhymes and bright colors. Recommend for toddlers, preschoolers, and young elementary school readers.