This book has inspired a television series, so kids may be familiar with the artwork and story. Hopefully, they do better with the show than this book. The concept is appealing, a girl has a birthday party and due to her horn-shaped hat, she attracts a unicorn who thinks he has found one of his own. Not only has he not found a unicorn, but he has found Alice, a child who decidedly does NOT want a unicorn for a friend. This could lead to hilarity, but instead the action falls flat. Alice is incredibly unkind to Unicorn and he, in turn, does not listen to her or what she likes or wants. It is the opposite of friendship. When Alice is finally so unkind that she drives Unicorn away, she then regrets it and whispers that she wants him back. He hears this and with words that chill the readers heart, “Unicorn knows an apology when he hears one,” he returns. He did not get an apology and there is not really any reason he should want to come back to Alice, who has never liked him or been receptive to his friendship. This is a children’s book and children have expansive thinking and can accept some gray in their picture books, but the message in this book misses the mark about the importance of listening and boundaries, and leaves the reader with an unsettled feeling about how we should treat our “friends”.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth