Emily Mullock

So I actually didn't really like the story in this one...it's a common story in kids books, kid meets annoying friend/animal/monster/whatever, tries for the whole book to get rid of them, they finally do something mean or their annoying adversary finally gets it and leaves, and then kid realizes that they actually DID like having them around and that they're actually great friends. Happy ending!

So I ended up just feeling sorry for the unicorn because he didn't understand that he was intruding on Alice's life (he ruined her books, and used all her stuff, and got glitter all over the place...pretty inconsiderate, if you ask me) so Alice ended up being mean to him...so then the unicorn was sad. And then I was sad because the unicorn is SO CUTE. If he was better at picking up social signals he could have found a new friend because Alice's buddies seemed to want to hang out with him. Or he could have listened to Alice and they could have figured out a way to co-exist without him ruining her stuff. The ending leaves a lot to be desired too because instead of acknowledging the real issues that the unicorn was causing, Alice somehow ends up missing the fact that her books were made into a bed and not having any shampoo and having to clean glitter out of the carpet all the time. This doesn't sound all that realistic. When I have a roommate who doesn't keep the kitchen clean and ruins all my stuff, and we stop living together, I'm never like, man I actually really miss cleaning their crumbs off the counter and locking all my things in the closet, what a mistake I made moving out!

I mean I'm obviously really reading a lot into this story for children so in all reality you can ignore my review because your kids will probably still really love it and I imagine I will still read it to children.

And I also gave it three stars because the illustrations KILLED ME they were so cute.

Also for this line:
"Alice tried to tell him that he was a mythical creature. 'That means you don't exist,' she explained. But that just made the unicorn feel more special."

Also for this illustration because of how the dog has horns and wings taped to his back. I love the dog.

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