Tag: Unicorns

Phoebe and Her Unicorn #5: Unicorn Crossing – Dana Simpson

Phoebe and Marigold carve pumpkins and Marigold plans a Halloween surprise for Phoebe. Todd the candy dragon provides the Halloween candy again this year and Dakota makes goblins cool when she starts hanging out with Blaartholomew. Marigold goes to the spa with her sister, resulting in unicorn withdrawal for Phoebe.

Naturally my favourite scenes were book related, especially when Marigold casts a Spell of Forgetting on herself so it feels like she’s reading a well read book for the first time. I need to learn how to do that spell! While I wasn’t a fan of the increased focus on nose picking I did enjoy the increased time spent talking about books.

This is the first collection where I’ve noticed a few pages repeated from previous collections. I wasn’t as wowed by this collection but am hopeful the next one, Phoebe and Marigold’s first graphic novel, will shake things up a bit.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Time flies in this fifth volume of Phoebe and Her Unicorn! Follow the lovable duo as they experience somewhat-spooky Halloween parties, ecstatic snow days, and looming summer reading assignments. Although the journey of growing up can sometimes be difficult, along the way Phoebe and Marigold discover something more enduring than goblin fads, unicorn spa vacations, and even a Spell of Forgetting – their one of a kind friendship. 

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Phoebe and Her Unicorn #4: Razzle Dazzle Unicorn – Dana Simpson

Marigold’s name earned plenty of nerd points for me when I read Dana Simpson’s introduction to this collection. Dana explains she put her name into an online unicorn name generator and what popped out was … Marigold Heavenly Nostrils! Best story of the week!

After forcing myself to have a short break from this series I needed to know what was next for this girl and her unicorn (or perhaps that should be ‘this unicorn and her girl’).

Phoebe decides she doesn’t want to rule the world. Marigold learns that humans are better with a soundtrack. Todd the candy dragon, a goblin, Dakota and Max were back, but my new favourite superhero and villain were absent. Phoebe starts a journal. Marigold comes down with sparkle fever. Phoebe’s room disappears. Then Phoebe and Marigold return to music camp and get to hang out with Sue and Ringo, the lake monster.

Phoebe’s father solved the ‘hiding the Christmas presents’ dilemma.

Though this isn’t my favourite collection and some comics have become a tad repetitive I still really enjoyed this read. It already feels like I’m reading about old friends and I wish I had a kidlet to enjoy this series with.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Get ready to be bedazzled!

Dana Simpson’s Phoebe and Her Unicorn is back with more sparkles than ever! In this fourth volume, join in the adventure as Phoebe and Marigold confront messy rooms, trouble at school, and a nasty case of “Sparkle Fever.” Follow the pair back to Camp Wolfgang, where their old pals Sue (a.k.a. “Monster Girl”) and Ringo, the lake creature, remind them that being weird is WAY more fun than being normal.

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Phoebe and Her Unicorn #3: Unicorn vs. Goblins – Dana Simpson

You know those days where you just want to comfort read? That was me today.

This is the third Phoebe and Her Unicorn book that has had me wondering why a random comic was placed in the middle of a storyline but because I was enjoying myself so much it didn’t really matter.

In this collection Phoebe goes to music camp where she meets her weird bunkmate, Sue, while Marigold meets the lake monster. Marigold gets a letter from her sister, who has a more ‘unfortunate’ middle name than Phoebe. Todd, the candy dragon, makes both an appearance and some ice cream – BLECH! Dakota has a staring contest with a goblin. Max proved why I knew I loved him

and we met a new potential friend, Sam.

While Phoebe and Marigold are brought to life with kids in mind, if I’m any indication then there’s definitely a lot for kids at heart to enjoy as well. I could easily keep bingeing these today but am going to attempt to restrain myself for two reasons:

  1. Because I acknowledge that somewhere in another dimension there could be people who don’t want to be Goodreads spammed with unicorn read after unicorn read. If those people do in fact exist, it’s probably unicorn intermission time.
  2. I don’t want to get to tomorrow and know that if I had just restrained myself a little bit then I’d have more new Phoebe and Marigold to look forward to. So, although I sort of feel like Marigold, here’s me restraining myself.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

School’s out! That means no more teachers, no more books, and lots of time to compliment Marigold Heavenly Nostrils on her good looks. In this third volume, Phoebe and her obligational best friend, Marigold, learn that summer still has plenty of surprises. Have fun with Phoebe and Marigold as they continue the “Pheobegold Detective Agency”, spend a week at Wolfgang Music Camp, and find themselves in odd misadventures, thanks to Marigold’s enchanted sparkles.

When school resumes, read along as Phoebe enjoys (or suffers from) a brief case of popularity, mentally catalogs her grievances against dodge ball and, with Marigold’s help, rescues Dakota and her hair from the queen of the goblins. Through these wacky adventures, Phoebe and Marigold learn that their friendship is the second most magical thing of all, after Marigold’s beauty, of course.

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Phoebe and Her Unicorn #2: Unicorn on a Roll – Dana Simpson

Phoebe and Marigold are back, and are apparently my new graphic novel obsession. In this second collection they reflect on what life was like before they became best friends, discuss Boogergate, exchange Christmas presents, make New Year’s resolutions, practice for the school play, and even visit Marigold’s home! Oh, and you get to watch a unicorn roller skate!

I love watching Phoebe embracing her nerdiness.

I enjoyed the pop culture references, most of which would fly straight over the heads of any kids reading it. The Alanis/Irony quip was probably my favourite. Happily, my new favourite superhero and villain, Claustrophoebea and Pointyhead, also return!

It’s probably a nerd thing but I absolutely adored Phoebe’s dream sequence.

Dakota and Max return, as do Phoebe’s amazing parents, and even though this is only my second Phoebe and Her Unicorn read it feels like they’ve been my friends for a long time.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Been to school and paid my dues
Feel like I’ve gone and lost my clues
Unenthused and all confused
What have I really got to lose?

My unicorn’s my newest muse
She taught me now to lose my blues
From her I’ll chose to take my cues
And take a snooze without my shoes

What’s more magical than a unicorn on roller skates? Phoebe and Marigold Heavenly Nostril’s friendship! They’re on a roll in this second adventure as they share their finest finery, their most secret secrets, and their most magical mysteries. 

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Phoebe and Her Unicorn – Dana Simpson

🦄 Happy Unicorn Day! 🦄

When lonely fourth grader Phoebe rescues Marigold Heavenly Nostrils, who was trapped in the beauty of her own reflection, she is granted one wish. As the self appointed Federal Awesomeness Inspector, Phoebe declares herself the “most awesome girl in the world!”, which of course must be true because she wished to be best friends with a unicorn!

Together they play video games, have slumber parties in their pyjamas, play superhero and detective agency, gossip and enjoy music. Marigold gets trapped in her reflection more than once and I expect this will be a running joke throughout the series.

With our main characters fluent in sarcasm and dry humour, I found a lot to love. In this first graphic novel of the series we meet Phoebe’s parents, Dakota (Phoebe’s arch enemy, who calls her Princess Stupidbutt) and Max (Phoebe’s spelling partner). We’re also introduced to Todd, the candy dragon, who was my favourite minor character because … CANDY DRAGON!!!

Despite being so self absorbed, Marigold is capable of compassion and insight. I loved how literal she is and my stubbornness appreciated the stubbornness of both Marigold and Phoebe. Though they’re often not on the same wavelength these new friends get along surprisingly well.

I adore these new friends and feel like I’ve made two new ones myself. I’m especially looking forward to more superhero segments with Claustrophoebea and Pointyhead. I smiled a lot during this book and can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally start this series. Thank you, Unicorn Day!

P.S. The magical picture of the unicorn reading is by Ivona Design.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Do you believe in unicorns? Phoebe does. She has no choice … one day she skipped a rock across a pond, and hit a unicorn in the face. Improbably, this resulted in a lasting friendship between Phoebe and the unicorn, one Marigold Heavenly Nostrils.

Come along for the unicorn ride with Phoebe, as she deals with the usual burdens of childhood (cruel classmates, gym class, piano lessons) and also some unusual ones (magic hair, candy-breathing dragons, and the legendary Shield of Boringness).

Can a precocious little girl and a self-absorbed mythical forest creature find common ground? Indeed they can, and that’s how Phoebe and Her Unicorn unfolds.

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How to Catch a Unicorn – Adam Wallace

Illustrations – Andy Elkerton

🦄 Happy Unicorn Day! 🦄

This was everything I want in a unicorn book! It was a fun read and the illustrations were bright and colourful, with plenty of glitter and rainbows (plus the requisite reference to unicorn flatulence).

From ice cream traps to butterfly nets, a group of kids try their best to catch a wiley unicorn through the zoo’s exhibits but this unicorn has a host of animal friends ready to help it evade capture.

I smiled my way through this book and particularly loved Andy Elkerton’s illustrations. I enjoyed the various expressions on the kids’ faces when their attempts to catch the unicorn didn’t quite go to plan. My favourite near miss resulted in a couple of kids getting soaked by some penguins. I couldn’t choose a favourite animal because they’re all amazing; they’re full of joy and adorably cheeky as they foil the kids’ plan.

I really appreciated the creative substitution of the unicorn horn and star for the “i” in the book’s title. Oftentimes it’s the little extras that make a book memorable long term for me and it wouldn’t surprise me if that sparkly yellow “i” is one of the things that find its way into my spontaneous recommendation to some unsuspecting book store visitor weeks or months from now.

I’ve read this book three times (so far) and plan to read it every day until I have no choice but to return it to the library. I previously fell in love with How to Catch a Monster. Now it’s a given that I need to get my hands on the rest of Adam Wallace’s How to Catch series.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Try to catch one of the world’s most elusive mythical creatures – the unicorn! Filled with zany traps and lots of rainbow unicorn fun, this is the unicorn book of the year!

Can you catch the unicorn?

You’ll have to use your brain, 

So set your traps and prep your team

To pet that rainbow mane!

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Pearl #3: Pearl the Proper Unicorn – Sally Odgers

Illustrations – Adele K. Thomas

This is the third in an extremely PINK! series about a magical unicorn whose magic doesn’t always work so well and her friends, Olive the ogre and Tweet the firebird. This book introduces a new character, Prince Percival the Positively Perfect Prancer, who is just as pretentious as his name suggests. Prior to Prince Percy’s snobbish arrival Pearl thought she was the only unicorn in the Kingdom.

Before long Percy has stomped all over Pearl’s self esteem by questioning her magic and pointing out all of the things she does that aren’t “proper” for a unicorn. Unfortunately these supposed improprieties are what makes Pearl special and it made my blood boil that Pearl was so willing to discard her uniqueness as soon as a boy unicorn told her she should.

Naturally, in the end Percy learns there’s more than one proper way to do magic, Pearl’s imperfect magic helps save the day and the nasty gobble-uns wander off to no doubt plan some stinky scheme for the next book so I guess all’s well that ends well but I hope Percy is off on a quest in a distant land during the next book because I still don’t like him. This would be a good book to teach kids that no one has the right to try to dull their shine.

Adele K. Thomas’ illustrations once again steal the show, with great expressions, a waving frog and so much cuteness.

While this is my least favourite book of the series so far I’m pretty certain I’ll wind up borrowing the fourth book, Pearl the Happy Unicorn, from my library when it arrives so prepare yourself for some more PINK!

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Pearl, Olive and Tweet meet another unicorn! His name is Prince Percy and he is positively perfect in every way! But when mean, smelly gobble-uns take over the pond, can Prince Percy’s perfect magic help them? Or will Pearl’s magic be just what they need? 

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Pearl #2: Pearl the Flying Unicorn – Sally Odgers

Illustrations – Adele K. Thomas

I couldn’t help myself! After finding out that Pearl’s sequel involved her flying I had to read it. Pearl the magical unicorn (is there any other kind?) and her friends Olive the ogre and Tweet the firebird are on another adventure. This time they’re on the trail of some pink glitter feathers that blew away in a gust of wind when Pearl was trying on Olive’s new hat. Along the way they encounter some gobble-uns, the baddies from the first book.

I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. I was a bit overwhelmed by the sweetness of the first book and found Pearl’s random outbursts annoying. This time around I was expecting the sweet story and Pearl’s “Bolting buckets!”, “Blundering bats” and “Purple parsnips!” felt more like a quirk of her character to be expected, not irritated by. I expect kids who read this series will find Pearl’s exclamations funny and will enjoy Pearl, Olive and Tweet’s friendship. It was a tad convenient that Pearl’s magic only works properly when it absolutely has to but I doubt kids will care about that.

Handy hint: If you ever meet Pearl, the magic you need to know is “Flickety-prance-flick!” Get her to do this for you and a pink cupcake will fall from the sky and land on your head, intact and the right way up.

The main thing I remembered from my review of Pearl the Magical Unicorn was that it was PINK! Not to be outdone, the sequel is also PINK! Once again, Adele K. Thomas’ illustrations were adorable and the detailed expressions enhanced the characters’ personalities. I loved the background animals, particularly the frog, whale and stingrays, but my favourite had to be the bug shaking its fist at Pearl and her friends.

Yes, I do already have the third book in the series on order from the library so you’ll be hearing all about PINK! Pearl the Proper Unicorn around February 2019. In the meantime, if you’re in need of cupcakes just remember, “Flickety-prance-flick!”

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Pearl, Olive and Tweet are on the hunt for glitter feathers! But they’ve blown all the way over to Gull Island. They use Olive’s ogre-boat to reach the island, but rowing quickly behind them are three mean and stinky pirate gobble-uns! 

Can Pearl use her magic to save her friends in time?

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A Unicorn Named Sparkle #3: A Unicorn Named Sparkle’s First Christmas – Amy Young

I adored A Unicorn Named Sparkle and A New Friend for Sparkle so despite my Bah Humbug tendencies I was excited to read about Sparkle’s first Christmas. I loved the illustrations and the shiny, glittery bits on the cover. I enjoyed seeing Sparkle lapping up his hot chocolate, playing with the birds and ice skating, and I grinned every time an illustration showed the heart shaped marking on his butt.

I was really disappointed by the story though. While I love giving and receiving presents, Lucy’s obsession with presents in this book

and her tantrum made me feel really sorry for poor Sparkle, who she makes cry a puddle of rainbow tears when she declares he’s ruined Christmas. I wish the story had a greater focus on their friendship and the joy they bring to one another rather than shining a spotlight on Lucy’s bad attitude. Yes, Lucy does turn it around in the end but it felt like it was too little, too late and it didn’t undo my desire to give Sparkle a huge hug and adopt him.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

It’s Sparkle’s first Christmas and Lucy is showing him how to celebrate. Make a snowman. Check. Make a unicorn snowman. Check. Hang stockings, make cookies, and, of course – buy presents! (But don’t eat them.) Check. In pure Sparkle fashion, nothing goes as planned, but Lucy ends up learning that love – not presents – is what Christmas is all about.

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Pearl #1: Pearl the Magical Unicorn – Sally Odgers

Pearl is a unicorn whose magic doesn’t exactly turn out how she plans. All she wants to do is share some apples with her best friends in the Kingdom, Tweet the firebird and Olive the ogre. However, each time she tosses her head or wiggles or prances something unexpected happens, like strawberry milkshake falling from the sky onto one of her friend’s heads.

Perhaps it would be better if Pearl didn’t try to use her magic after all. Then Pearl and her friends encounter three big gobble-uns who are planning something dastardly (and smelly).

This is a cute friendship story during which Pearl’s friends help her to believe in herself. Young readers who enjoy sugary sweet stories will enjoy hanging out with Pearl and her friends. I wasn’t a fan of Pearl’s random exclamations which included “Purple potatoes!”, “Cold crumpets!”, “Sizzling salad!”, and “Toddling toads!” but I’m not exactly the target audience; they may find these funny.

This book is extremely PINK! Pink things fall out of the sky, the illustrations are greyscale with lots of pink and plenty of words are pink too. I really liked the illustrations, particularly those showing Pearl suspicious, confused and cranky. I actually found the illustrations funnier than the story and they’re most of the reason why I will be ordering the second book of the series from the library. Also the second book is called The Flying Unicorn; flying combined with dodgy magic is something I want to see.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Meet Pearl. She is a magical unicorn. But Pearl doesn’t quite know how to use her magic. With the help of her friends, Tweet and Olive, can Pearl believe in her magical self? And what happens when Pearl and her friends stumble upon three naughty, stinky gobble-uns!?

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