Roxy the Last Unisaurus Rex (Roxy the Unisaurus Rex)

Self-esteem isn't an issue for half-dinosaur, half-unicorn Roxy, who, in her own words, is "only the most magical creature in the world." Roxy is proud to sport her T. rex mother's toothy grin and "slight anger issues," and her unicorn father's gorgeous mane and "runway-ready prance." But it's also lonely being one of a kind: her dinosaur classmates rebuff her friendship in favor of hanging with their own species. The tennis-playing diplodocuses won't let her join in, and the tough-looking T. rexes scoff at her streaming mane, declaring that she's "too much." The tide turns when Roxy discovers another "dinocorn" in the world--an equally confident half-brontosaurus, half-unicorn who has strong and almost opposite tastes (he's a meditating vegetarian) but is eager to be her friend. Chen's (Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes) by-the-book story never expands into interspecies friendship, but Rivera (Fussy Flamingo) lifts the familiar premise with a fruit-soda palette and translucent, cloudlike textures in his vignettes. Ages 4-6. (Oct.)

Praise for Roxy the Last Unisaurus Rex:

Eva Chen has really hit the mark with her Juno Valentine series, but is branching out into children's literature in a huge way with Roxy the Last Unisaurus Rex...It's not often you can find a children's book that pleases both the child and the parent reading it 800 times, but ROXY feels like a good fit. And any picture book that makes me want to wallpaper my house with its pages is more than OK by me. —Romper