Tag: Unicorns

Unicorn (and Horse) – David Miles

Illustrations – Hollie Mengert

Yes, another unicorn book! Whenever I discover another unicorn book be assured you will hear about it. 😃

Unicorn and horse may share a pen but they do not share a personality. Unicorn is a dancing, prancing, cheery unicorn who eats pink cupcakes for every meal. Horse is not. Horse has the funniest surly, snarky attitude and is secretly jealous of unicorn, with all of his friends and rainbow farts. Yes, this unicorn farts rainbows!!! 💨 🌈

All is normal, with unicorn happy and horse not. Then unicorn is kidnapped by a couple of thieves wearing convict stripes and Zorro masks. Uh oh! Will horse save the day or will he enjoy having the pen to himself?

The illustrations are sweet, colourful and quirky. There aren’t a great deal of words in this book but the illustrations more than make up for it, bringing all of the emotions of the characters to life. Besides our chipper unicorn and cranky horse, we also meet some mice, squirrels, a bird, a fox and a turtle, who are all just gorgeous.

I’m not going to tell you that my favourite illustration is of the unicorn farting rainbows because that would be too obvious. Instead I’ll tell you my favourites of the two main characters. I love horse standing under the dark cloud with rain dripping off him and a soaked flower crown hanging around his neck.

I adore the pink cupcake picnic with unicorn, fox, two squirrels and two mice together on a pink picnic rug, unicorn regally offering a cupcake to horse in one of his hooves. The fox is sitting behind unicorn with a cupcake in paw and its tongue is sticking out. 😍

I probably found this story funnier than I should have but between the rainbow farts and horse’s expressions, this was right up my alley! Ultimately it’s a lovely story about friendship and how isolated envy can make you. At the end of the day there’s always going to be enough rainbow farts and pink cupcakes to go around.

I need to read this book about another hundred times before I return it to my library, at which time I expect I’ll need to buy my own copy.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Unicorn is a unicorn. And Horse is, well … not.

Horse is brown. Horse is plain. And Horse can’t stand the unicorn he shares a pen with. Unicorn dances. Tra la la! Horse does not. Blah blah blah. But when robbers kidnap Unicorn for a local circus, what will Horse decide to do?

Packed with forty-eight pages of hilarious illustrations and deadpan wit, Unicorn (and Horse) is a funny yet endearing lesson on envy with one important truth: We are sometimes unicorns. We are sometimes horses. And happiness doesn’t always come from pink cupcakes for breakfast.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , ,

Unicorn Food: Natural Recipes for Edible Rainbows – Sandra Mahut

🦄 Happy Unicorn Day! 🦄

Despite its promising title, Unicorn Food is not a book of recipes to help you feed your unicorn a nutritionally balanced diet, nor does it contain recipes that include unicorns as an ingredient. It’s okay! You don’t need to retrieve your pitchfork! There’s not a single unicorn listed in the ingredients of this book! 😜

Crogue-Unicorn

Instead you will get to marvel at some of the most beautiful food you’ve ever seen. Using natural food colourings like juices, spices or natural powdered food colourings that you can purchase from specialty cake decorating stores or our good friend, the Internet, you won’t find preservatives in any of the sweet or savoury delights in this book.

Blueberry Galaxy Cupcakes

You’ll find such yummies as unicorn poop (pretty little rainbow meringues), unicorn maki rolls, unicorn noodle bowls with the most extraordinary purple and blue noodles, crogue-unicorn (toasted cheese sandwiches with 4 colours in the cheese), and blueberry galaxy cupcakes.

I already thought donuts were out of this world but there’s even a recipe for cosmic donuts, which include edible silver glitter and bright blue icing!

I’m fairly certain that I’ll be indulging in swirly pastel unicorn cheesecake in the near future. I can also guarantee that I will never attempt the unicorn cake with a starring role on the cover of this book. I can only imagine the epic fail that would be the result of me attempting to replicate this one. However if someone would like to volunteer to make one for me I won’t object.

Unicorn Maki Rolls

The photography in this book is sufficiently droolworthy and if you’re my kind of chef it will show you the hilarious difference between what the food was supposed to look like and what your talent for disaster has actually whipped up. I expect the recipes in this book will wind up featuring at many parties in the near future.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry for the opportunity to be one of the first to drool over this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

This is not a book on how to feed your pet unicorn a healthy diet. But unicorns have magically inspired each of the 32 all-natural recipes in this book, from the show-stopping Unicorn Cake and Cosmic Donuts to Rainbow Veggie Sandwiches and Celestial Swirl Soup.

Add technicolor sparkle to your sushi and fairytale magic to your mocktails. It’s all deliciously natural – no nasty additives or preservatives – just beautiful food colorings made from berry juices and vegetables. All ingredients are straightforward and easily sourced! Astound and delight your family, friends, followers, and kids with these and more spectacular dishes:

  • Croque-Unicorn, a grilled sandwich of rainbow cheese
  • Veggie Noodle Bowl of colored noodles and a rainbow of star-shaped vegetables
  • Rainbow Pancakes topped with melted white chocolate and sprinkles
  • Unicorn Macarons sporting fondant horns
  • Unicorn Milkshakes with twisted marshmallow arches.

Brightly colored, not too serious, and equal parts whimsical and practical, Unicorn Food is shared experience. Create the most unbelievably Instagrammable dishes ever seen. Cook, post, and enjoy – the treats and the likes. Everyone will be drooling over your pastel masterpieces. 

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , , ,

Today I’ll Be a Unicorn – Dana Simpson

🦄 Happy Unicorn Day! 🦄

The illustrations are everything in Today I’ll Be a Unicorn. This gorgeous board book features Phoebe and Marigold Heavenly Nostrils from Dana Simpson’s Phoebe and Her Unicorn graphic novels.

Phoebe dresses and acts like a unicorn throughout the board book accompanied by her unicorn, Marigold Heavenly Nostrils.

Phoebe is excited about dressing up with unicorn ears and a horn, which are both attached to a headband decorated with beautiful flowers. She loves trotting through meadows with her unicorn tail flowing behind her.

She enjoys all aspects of being a unicorn. Then she discovers that maybe being a young girl is sometimes better than being a unicorn. I’m inclined to agree with her reasoning!

Today I’ll Be a Unicorn is light on words but shines with personality. Phoebe’s expressions are captured so well, from excited to blissful, from dumbfounded to happy and content. I loved the choice of colours used, ranging from soft yet bright pastels to a vibrant rainbow.

I can imagine this becoming a favourite bedtime story. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Who wouldn’t want to be a unicorn?

In this charming, super-sparkly board book, the stars of Phoebe and Her Unicorn celebrate the magical and enchanting world of being a unicorn, along with reminding young readers that being yourself is pretty great, too.

Who wouldn’t want to be a unicorn? You get to trot majestically through meadows, perch high up on rainbows, and wear tiaras made of starlight. Phoebe lists all the wonderful things she’ll get to do and can hardly contain her excitement about having a tail and magic horn. That is, until she learns that unicorns like to eat hay instead of pizza. Maybe she’ll be a unicorn tomorrow instead!

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , , ,

Xander and the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns #1: Magic Smells Awful – Matthew K. Manning

Illustrations – Joey Ellis

Do you believe in magic?

Xander does. He’s been a magic hunter for most of his life. When he was younger his friend Kelly would go on magic hunts with him but no longer does. On the very day that he decides to give up on magic it blasts across the sky in all of its technicolor glory. He doesn’t see fairies, gnomes or a spirit.

Instead he witnesses three rainbows, but there’s no pot of gold at the end of these rainbows. What Xander discovers are three unicorns! But not just your garden variety type. These are zombie unicorns 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️🦄 and they barf rainbows 🤢🤮🌈🌈🌈!

”RONK!”

Being zombies they also smell terrible and tend to be accompanied by flies. The unicorns have heard about human adults who no longer believe in magic and will experiment on them if discovered. Xander knows it’s up to him to protect these rainbow vomiters from harm, but how?

Matthew K. Manning has written one of the most entertaining books I’ve read this year. The writing engages the reader from the beginning with this amazing and absurd story (I say that with the utmost respect) that is so imaginative and funny. I wanted these rainbow-barfing unicorns to be real. I wanted to go watch them vomit rainbows into the sky for myself. I wanted to visit Pegasia to witness for myself this magical dimension.

Joey Ellis’ illustrations capture the comedy in this book perfectly! My favourite illustration today is of Xander bathed in a rainbow yet pretending he can’t see anything out of the ordinary. It accurately depicts the humour of a kid obviously caught in a lie, denying it regardless and refusing to make eye contact. I expect my favourite illustration will change each time I open the book though.

I spent the whole book thinking this would make an incredible series and I dreaded nearing the end because I needed more! More unicorns! More vomit! More fun! Then I made it to the very end and lo and behold, what do I see on the back cover? The covers for the next three books in the series! Yippee!!! They look like as much fun as this one and I can’t wait!

I will be buying this book as soon as it’s released (for myself) so I can reread it to my heart’s content and have already recommended it to my favourite librarian for an avid young reader who consistently checks out the same kid’s books I do. I need to read the rest of the series urgently!

Food I craved while reading this book: apple donuts, cotton candy and blueberry strudel.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Capstone for introducing me to this new favourite.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Reread 9 April 2020

From the ‘Why I Call Myself an Alleged Adult’ Files: When asked what I wanted for my birthday last year I requested a series of kid’s books about zombie unicorns that vomit rainbows. I’ve been holding off on bingeing them until now because …

🦄 9 April is Unicorn Day! 🦄

It’s been two years since I first discovered Xander and the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns and I’d forgotten how much fun they are to read about. This book is a great way to escape from reality for a while.

We’re introduced to Xander, a 12 year old outcast who still believes in magic, and three unicorns who have been banished from Pegasia, their home. Cradie, Blep and Ronk used to be ordinary, everyday unicorns but something happened on Pegasia that transformed them into smelly, rainbow-vomiting, zombie-like creatures.

“The thing is, we were normal unicorns, but then we got a space virus, and we had to walk through the Banish Desert, which is nowhere near as much fun as the Danish Dessert – but that’s another story entirely – and then we dropped through the Western Portal and ended up on this mountain and Ronk can’t stop vomiting rainbows and neither can we, if I’m being honest, and -“

During my second read I wondered how the unicorns were able to speak the same language as Xander. I also noticed the illustrations, which I love, don’t always line up with the descriptions in the text. For example, Ronk is supposed to have two yellow eyes, not one yellow and one white, and Cradie’s hooves are supposed to be greenish, not purple.

Following the story is a glossary, a list of barf words and jokes. This book’s character spotlight shines a light on Ronk – exposed spine, melting skin, hairy ooze and everything else that makes this unicorn unique.

I’m ready to find it out what happens next!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Xander Stone didn’t believe in unicorns – until one puked on him! In this adventure, twelve-year-old Xander first meets the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns – stinky, zombielike, upchucking creatures from the magical world of Pegasia. They’ve been banished to Earth for, well, being stinky, zombielike, upchucking creatures. However, Earth presents them with a great danger: HUMANS. Luckily, the dashing, naively heroic Xander vows to protect them and their disgusting secret at all costs.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , , ,

A Unicorn Named Sparkle – Amy Young

Dragging on 🦄 UNICORN MONTH 🦄 because I’m not done yet and, well, unicorns!!!

Cuteness overload! Just on the cover we have glitter and butterflies with happy faces. SOLD!!!

When Lucy orders a unicorn for 25 cents – BARGAIN!!! – she doesn’t get the unicorn of her dreams. If your heart doesn’t melt when you see Sparkle snuggled up with Bear-Bear after a bedtime story to calm his fears during a storm, then I don’t know what will. Plus he has a heart shaped patch of fur near his butt and loves cupcakes.

I need the details of the comic Lucy found the unicorn ad in so I can order my very own Sparkles!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

When Lucy sees an ad in the newspaper for a unicorn, she sends in her twenty-five cents and waits four to six long weeks for her very own unicorn to arrive. She imagines the flowers that she’ll braid into his beautiful pink mane, and she even picks the perfect name for him: Sparkle. But when Sparkle arrives, his ears are too long, his horn is too short, he smells funny – and oh, he has fleas. Lucy isn’t pleased, but in the end she warms up to Sparkle and realizes that even though he wasn’t exactly the unicorn she wanted, he might be just the one she needs.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , ,

Thelma the Unicorn – Aaron Blabey

Another book proudly brought to you by …

🦄 Unicorn Month! 🦄

Thelma the horse desperately wants to be a unicorn and doesn’t believe her best friend when he tells her she’s perfect just the way she is. Between a carrot tied to her nose and a fortuitous near miss with a truck loaded conveniently with pink paint and glitter, all of Thelma’s dreams come true. Or so she thinks. It’s not much fun keeping up the facade of being someone you’re not.

This is a sweet book about accepting and loving yourself for who you are. A recommendation from one of my favourite librarians, I love the message of this book. The illustrations are lovely and I particularly liked Thelma’s best friend, Otis. You can’t help but love someone who loves you just the way you are.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Thelma dreams of being a glamorous unicorn. Then in a rare pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma’s wish comes true.

She rises to instant international stardom, but at an unexpected cost. After a while, Thelma realizes that she was happier as her ordinary, sparkle-free self. So she ditches her horn, scrubs off her sparkles, and returns home, where her best friend is waiting for her with a hug.

From award-winning author Aaron Blabey comes this joyful book about learning to love who you are … even if you don’t have sparkles.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , ,

That’s Not My Unicorn … – Fiona Watt

Illustrations – Rachel Wells

This is the latest in my That’s Not My … obsession. This time we take on UNICORNS!!!! This is my second unicorn read this month and I have another two planned for the weekend. As I missed (shame on me!) Unicorn Day on 9 April, but will most certainly be celebrating it annually from 2018, I officially declare this …
🦄 Unicorn Month! 🦄

This was another cute addition to the That’s Not My … series, but so much better because, duh, unicorns! I for one am stoked that our sweet little white mouse rejected so many unicorns on the way to finding theirs, because that leaves five unicorns looking for someone to love them – and I call dibs on all of them!

I want the one with the fluffy mane. I want the one with the rainbow coloured mane and super soft ears. I want the bumpy hooved one with the pink mane and purple stripey horn. I want the furry tailed one with the yellow mane and horn. Oh, and I certainly claim the smooth winged one with pink mane and yellow horn flying past the rainbow. If any of you want to borrow one at any time you’re more than welcome but as I already made pretty clear, I’ve got dibs on every single one of the rejects. So there, Mr Mouse! You don’t get to change your mind now!

Just between you and I, Mr Mouse had better be on the lookout because I may well be planning on unicorn-napping borrowing his unicorn with the rainbow coloured mane and sparkly horn in the near future.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The 50th title in the internationally best-selling That’s not my … series. This sparkly, touchy-feely book features a magical unicorn to talk about, and a little white mouse to spot on every page. Babies and toddlers will love turning the pages and touching the textured patches as they try to find their unicorn.

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , ,

Be a Unicorn & Live Life on the Bright Side – Sarah Ford

Illustrations – Anita Mangan

Well, here it is! The book that inspired 🦄 Unicorn Month! 🦄

I love this little book of unicorn wisdom! I just wish it was longer because I didn’t want it to end. Unicorn has got it all figured out. He lives in the moment, looks for the good in others, accepts himself for who he is and takes time to enjoy himself.

Sarah Ford gives the reader simple, bite sized pieces of self care that for some reason feel easier to apply to your life because a unicorn is the one dispensing the wisdom. Regardless of your mindset at the start I doubt anyone could make it through this book without a smile on their face and at least one cheeky chuckle.

Anita Mangan’s illustrations are just perfect. What would have been a cute book without the pictures turns into something you want to return to again and again with them. I fell in love with this quirky, adorable unicorn. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a unicorn giving you a toothy smile or pole dancing. I had several smirks and chuckles during the book but my bursting out laughing moment came when Unicorn jumped in the puddles.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. I’m going to be returning to this book whenever I need to recharge, smile and receive a gentle reminder that self care is a necessity, not a luxury.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Being a person is getting too complicated. Time to be a unicorn.

This little book of positivity features everyone’s favourite mythical creature. Each adorably illustrated spread includes a funny or inspiring piece of advice, reminding you to follow your dreams, and always think unicorn. The perfect gift for a friend in need of a boost, this cute and covetable book is bound to spread smiles wherever it goes!

by Categories: ReviewTags: , , , ,