Dragon vs. Unicorn: Friends or Frenemies? - P.J. Hoover - ★★★

AUTHOR: P.J. Hoover

ILLUSTRATOR: Lisa Wiley

GENRE: Children's Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: October 7, 2025

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: An interactive, ‘Choose-Your-Own-Adventure’ graphic novel for beginner readers, featuring two friends of opposite natures. Plenty of choices to make, and plenty of lessons to learn. The stories might be too simplistic for the age group, and the characters a bit annoying (much to my surprise). Might work better with adult guidance.

The title and the cover function almost like clickbait. The “Friends or Frenemies” tagline, along with that sassy expression on Unicorn’s face and the grumpy look on Dragon’s, suggests a story with many strong emotions and explosive situations. Well, the book has this and plenty more to offer. But it doesn’t always hit the bull’s eye in its execution.

The book contains three short stories, with each one offering a choice between two options at one particular point. Based on what little readers choose, the story directs them to go to that specific page number and continue reading. This interactive approach will help children to understand the conundrums of deciding between two options, and to learn that each choice always comes with its pros and cons. There is no perfect solution to most dilemmas.

The decision to use ‘frenemies’ instead of ‘enemies’ in the title is a smart one. Not only does it connect better with readers of this generation, but it also shows that having one fight doesn’t turn a bestie into an enemy.

Every choice and resolution brings out several important lessons, most important being the importance of having open and honest communication instead of assuming that the other will automatically understand your wishes. The stories are highlight several practical skillsets such as active listening, conflict resolution, teamwork, empathy, and compromise without sacrifice. All this comes through the action of the characters; the text doesn’t get preachy. That said, the stories might be a bit too straightforward for the target reading age of 5-8 years.

Dragon and Unicorn have opposite personalities, and every story brings out one contrasting feature between them. Both of them have their own merits and foibles. I like that the stories aren’t biased towards either character. In one story, Dragon might have to learn a lesson while in another, Unicorn might have to improve her behaviour. However, their general behaviour is quite problematic. Some of the issues are sorted out after they communicate with each other, but their friendship seems to be more ‘take’ than ‘give’. I hope kids realise the red flags in their attitude, even before they get to the story choices at the end.

If I am not wrong, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books usually aim at older kids, perhaps middle-graders and above. So this does fill in the gap in the same segment for younger readers. However, it might also be a bit tricky for the younger members of the target age group to go back and forth in the adventure. Of course, the text offers clear clues about where to navigate at the end of each segment; that’s helpful.

Based on the cover art, I expected the book to deliver more on the laughs. But while some of the scenes could induce smiles, the stress is more on the conflict and its settlement than on the humour.

The internal illustrations are nice and colourful, though it will probably attract even younger kids more. Most of the dialogues come from Dragon and Unicorn, but Dragon’s younger sibling has a cute guest appearance in a couple of the stories.

I am not sure if this book will be published in the digital format as well, but if yes, I wouldn’t recommend that version. The fun of a ‘Choose-Your-Own-Adventure’ experience simply doesn’t exist while reading on a device. This affected my experience somewhat as I couldn’t get the actual experience of flipping through the dual choices available in each story.

Overall, this is a nice adventurous book combining fun with learning. I might have liked it better if the characters were more loveable, but the social skills it offers (upon discussion) make it a good learning experience.

Recommended to kids who are exploring independent reading. Better if read with an adult companion.

My thanks to Kids Can Press for providing the DRC of “Dragon vs. Unicorn: Friends or Frenemies?” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.