Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s picture books before, but I really had to give a shout-out to Uni the Unicorn as well.  Uni, you see (OH, the alliteration!), is a perfectly normal unicorn, except for just one thing.

She truly believes that little girls are real.

Have I mentioned how much I love Rosenthal’s way of changing up a familiar theme?  It’s the same technique she used in Little Pea, Little Hoot, and Little Oink, really, but Uni the Unicorn looks completely different.  The art has a medieval feel to it–at least for me–which is in fairly stark contrast to the style of the other titles.  And whereas the other titles certainly ought to appeal to both genders (although now that I have a son and he is SO COMPLETELY OBSESSED with all things wheeled, I’m not quite as confident about that), this one is all for girls.  I wasn’t a particularly girly girl myself, you understand, but I have two of them, and I’m about to have three, and I can still appreciate the book’s appeal.  I don’t know that 4-8 is quite the right age range for this one–I think my 8-year-old liked it fine but wasn’t ecstatic–but my five-year-old has certainly enjoyed it.  If you’ve got a girly, unicorn-loving 3-6 year old, consider this one a must-read.