I'm a Unicorn

Clever. . . [a] conversation starter on acceptance and openness.

Just when you think all the unicorn stories have been done, Yoon comes along with this gem. . . . White-page backgrounds amplify Yoon's simple but highly expressive and hilarious illustrations, and kids will cackle throughout Cow's dramatic emotional journey.

Born with just one horn, a saucer-eyed calf decides they're a unicorn--after all, isn't that the irrefutable definition in Unicorns: Facts & Myths, a volume that the calf displays to readers? "I'm magical," says the brown bovine, pirouetting, elated, in crisp white space. But further perusal of the book reveals qualities the protagonist sorely lacks, including a silky mane and the ability to poop rainbows (the latter verified in an extended and sweetly funny potty scene). When two actual unicorns appear--portrayed in the mixed-media art as sparkly, sleek, and self-possessed--the calf abjectly apologizes for being an imposter. But the unicorns are hardly exacting: if you have one horn, you're one of them. As for not pooping rainbows, a magical parting gift fixes that--"It always works for us," says one unicorn insouciantly. Yoon's (Off-Limits) fresh twist on the theme of acceptance is to treat the big moment of acknowledgement not with hugs or celebration, but rather with comic composure--in doing so, offering hope around fears and the bar for belonging. Ages 3-7. Agency: Rubin Pfeffer Content. (Sept.)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Yoon's art is simple but effective, with the wide-eyed calf and their heavily tabbed research book set against clean white backgrounds, and when the unicorns finally make their appearance, they bring a riot of color and glitter. . . a reminder that you don't need sparkles to be fabulous (though rainbow poop does help).
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books