Unicorn (and Horse) - David W. Miles - ★★

AUTHOR: David W. Miles

ILLUSTRATOR: Hollie Mengert

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: March 1, 2018

RATING: 2 stars

In a Nutshell: Cute illustrations, but not much to say about the story. I can see that the average rating is quite high, so it might just be me being the grumpy “horse” in this review.

Plot Preview:

Unicorn is all things bright and shiny. Horse is all things dull and sulky. Needless to say, all animals love Unicorn and avoid Horse. But when a catastrophe befalls Unicorn, Horse gallops to the rescue. All’s well that ends well.

Sounds cute. But somewhere between the above idea and the execution, there is a mismatch. The content is somewhat ordinary, and the story structure (which is important even in picture books) feels a bit haphazard, with many missed moments of value addition.

There was plenty of potential for some lovely life lessons in this story. Not that I want every picture book to have morals, but this one had the scope to offer important messages within the plot. The highlight on how one shouldn’t feel envious about others’ popularity, the importance of having a friendly attitude if one wants friends, the efforts required to make friends, helping friends even when there is nothing in it for us, being comfortable with yourself even if you are on the duller/quieter side – any or all of these could have been a part of this story, but they are not.

I am also not sure how to feel about the kidnappers. The last thing I expected in a book with magical animals is human criminals popping in to commit an ordinary crime against a not-so-ordinary creature. They felt quite out of place.

Horse is said to be envious of Unicorn’s popularity, but he rebuffs Unicorn’s offer of friendship and just sits aside grumpily. After the rescue, they suddenly become friends. There is no conversation about or clarification of Horse’s earlier feelings. It is a bit too instant to be convincing, especially considering how aloof Horse was all the time.

I wish there had been better interaction between Unicorn and Horse. This “I did something for you, so now you can be my friend” attitude doesn’t work well for me. My daughter, who was reading this along with me, said, ‘I don’t see the point of this book. How did they resolve the problem without even talking about it?” I second her opinion. The story is too flat to be impactful.

Big doubt: How the heck did Horse end up making rainbows at the end?

Where the book scores is in the illustrations. They are cute and colourful. The contrast between rainbow-hued Unicorn and brown Horse highlights their contrary personalities.

All in all, this is a book not to be checked out for the plot but only for the vibrant illustrations. There are a couple of fun moments, but the story on the whole feels lacklustre.

Read it if it can be borrowed from the library. The text makes it suitable for kids aged 3-6.

2 stars, mostly for the graphics.

My thanks to Familius for providing the DRC of “Unicorn (and Horse)” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.