The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn

The titular hero of this fanciful story by Harris (Have You Ever Seen a Flower?) lives in a castle with his siblings, Fancy Annie and Prince Butterscotch, and parents. Fresh chalk-pastel drawings and a confident narrative lay out the tiny pink being's miseries in a time when "it was common to see a unicorn." It's bad enough that everything in the castle is too big for him, but the unicorn's larger siblings also use him as a chess piece and exclude him from swimming in the moat. "A gumball would make a bigger splash than you. You're so teeny-weeny, you'd get lost in the lawn," Fancy Annie taunts. Then the small unicorn actually does get lost in the lawn, where he meets a diminutive, extremely assertive pink gnome who accuses him of having damaged her sports car, and demands repayment instead of apology ("Sorry doesn't feed the bullfrog," she says). The unicorn feels he is much too small to have made such an impact--or is he? Sly wit, distinctive characterizations, and a free hand with fairy tale elements fuel this unbridled exploration of relative influence and size. Ages 3-7. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Feb.)