A Magical Birthday

November 15, 2024
More adventures in Unicornia. Claudia loves everything about her new home, a magical city created to safeguard unicorns. She and her pal Sara are excited to celebrate their BFF Pippa's birthday. Pippa's parents travel the globe, looking for lost unicorns, and Pippa barely sees them. When their plans to return home for her birthday fall through due to a snowstorm, a disappointed Pippa cancels her party. But at her friends' urging, she agrees to accompany them to the amusement park. When the girls get stuck at the top of a flying Ferris wheel, the Emergency Unicorns--Unicornia's version of first responders--come to the rescue. Translated from Spanish, the tale wraps up with an all-sweets picnic, including a magical cake that gives eaters the ability to perform handstands, somersaults, and flying pirouettes. Unicornia isn't all cotton candy and glittery drinks--vegetable soup appears once, slurped down quickly to get to dessert--but magic-infused concoctions are the order of the day. Though Claudia expresses some uncertainty, she narrates in a chipper tone; conflicts are easily resolved, and frowns swiftly turn to smiles. The turquoise-tinged cartoon illustrations differentiate the girls by hairstyle and color; characters have skin the white of the page. If readers' appetite for heart-shaped cupcakes and quadruple-chocolate cookies isn't sated, more sequels follow. The events of the first installment aren't recapped, so newcomers may want to start there. Frothy unicorn fun.(Chapter book. 6-8)

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December 13, 2024

Gr 1-3-Translated from Spanish, this second installment in the "Unicornia" series has Claudia helping her friend Pippa celebrate her birthday. Claudia and Sara are excited to make Pippa's day extra special. They've picked out the perfect present, and Claudia's mom prepared a giant multitiered cake. But when Pippa's parents can't make it to Unicornia because of a snowstorm, Pippa cancels her party. To help lift her spirits, Claudia and Sara convince Pippa to come with them to the Enchanted Falls theme park. Can an outing to the amusement park turn her birthday around? Simple text makes this a quick read for young readers, with Vicedo's pastel drawings accompanying most pages. The friends are drawn with white skin and different hair styles. A few conflicts are fairly minor and quickly resolved. There are several inconsistencies that may flummox children, e.g., parents stuck in a snowstorm who are later rescued by a unicorn. If Unicornia is so magical, why would they get stuck in the first place? Those who haven't read the first book will have lots of questions about this land and why Claudia moved there. The intended audience will have to be content with stories full of glitter, unicorns, and bubbly energy. VERDICT Usually putting "unicorn" in a title is part of a recipe for success, but this light offering is flimsy.-Heidi Dechief

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