I'M A UNICORN

A magical act of kindness resolves a small creature’s big identity crisis.

The narrator of this picture book appears to be a small bull calf with only one horn. After the protagonist reads from a book entitled Unicorns: Facts and Myths, that singular protuberance leads to the joyful titular declaration, “I’m a unicorn!” However, further reading and reflection on the matter soon provoke doubts. The narrator doesn’t “poop rainbows.” Nor do they “sparkle in the sunshine and twinkle in the moonlight,” and their mane does not “flow like silk and smell like peach candy.” After fretting over other self-perceived deficiencies, the narrator spies “REAL unicorns” in the distance and is terribly worried about what they will think of them. While the cartoon-style illustrations help to enhance the humor of the spare story, with the narrator displaying a range of expressions and contrasting sharply with the colorful elegance of the “REAL unicorns,” the resolution may strike some as too quick. It arrives when all concerns are laid to rest when the magical creatures nonchalantly accept the narrator as a unicorn—after all, the protagonist does have only one horn. The unicorns even offer a mysterious orb of a fruit to help with rainbow poops. Still, it’s a clever take on a well-trod topic that should spark conversations on identity. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A solid, though not groundbreaking, conversation starter on acceptance and openness.