Gen G for Groovy! We Are the Groovicorns by Rosie Greening

Everyone LOVES unicorns!

But you know who should be famous?

GROOVICORNS! "That's us!"

Sure, unicorns are cool, with those crazy horns and their rainbows which curve all the way across the sky.

But Groovicorns? Their rainbows aren't perfect arches. In fact, they're kind of quirky, but they make great twisty slides!

Unicorns grant wishes, wear Eau de Cotton Candy, and hang out in castles made of marshmallows, but Groovicorns set up fancy tents for disco nights.

Unicorns create sunny days.

BORING!

Groovicorns prefer SNOW!

Unicorns work too hard. Groovicorns like to PLAY.

With their rainbow-striped horns and reversible sequins, these Groovicorns are what's up these days, in Rosie Greening's Story Book We are the Groovicorns! (Make Believe Ideas, 2018). It's a case of Vive la Difference, as the unicorns make a case for a more carefree kind of being, with illustrations of that lifestyle provides with plenty of stars, confetti, and some choice sight gags (Unicorns hang out in Buckinghorn Palace), and the book design provides those mega-popular two-way sequins so groovicorns can change their stripes at will.. Share this one with Greening's Do You Believe in Groovicorns? and Story Book We are the Groovicorns!

Not All It's Cracked Up To Be! Thelma the Unicorn by Aaron Blabey

Fairy Tales can come true,
It can happen to you!

At least that's what Thelma the Pony thinks.

Thelma felt forlorn.

You see, she wished with all her heart to be a unicorn.

Although Otis the Mule thinks the stocky little pony is perfect just the way she is, Thelma has bigger dreams. And one day it happened.

She saw it.
A carrot on the ground.

She tied it to her nose.

And without the wave of a fairy wand or a single bibbidy boppidy boo, Thelma is transformed. Upon her head is a spiraling, sparkly horn, her coat is pink, and her tail is long and silvery. She is a beautiful UNICORN.

And soon Thelma is living the glittery life of a celebrity idol. The fame of her beauty and charm spreads worldwide. Crowds follow wherever she goes. She has a worldwide fan base who greet her with banners that read

OMG! I 💖 YOU!

Thelma The Unicorn tours the world, making appearances before her adoring public, sailing the seven seas on her cruise ship, The Fairy Princess. Throngs await her at every port, swooning at her beauty and begging for her sparkly autograph. Fans await her everywhere, from early morn till midnight. It's great!

Until... it's NOT!

Thelma realizes that it's all a bit too much.

So much fame was kinda tricky, too.

You see, her fans were mad for her. They'd chase her everywhere she went.

It never ever stopped.

Thelma realizes that there's no escape from her fame. She's no longer herself; it's like her admirers own her! They are her FANS, so they feel entitled to follow her every move.

One dark night, she felt quite sad, this famous little pony.

She said, "I thought that I'd feel great..., but all I feel is lonely."

Heavy lies the head that wears the horn. Thelma finds it lonely at the top. There's only thing to do, and Thelma does it. Off comes the magic carrot, and Thelma the glamorous unicorn is no more. It's back to being an ordinary pudgy pony with good ol' Otis waiting to keep her company, in Aaron Blabey's little picture book parable of ditching the Disney delusion of fame, Thelma the Unicorn (Scholastic Press, 2018). Like Blabey's popular character Pig The Pug, Thelma longs for fame, but finds it folly, with artist Blabey providing a plenty of comic scenes along the way as Thelma flees her fans and returns to savor the simple life. Unlike the hopelessly self-absorbed Pig the Pug, though, Thelma emerges a reformed and more lovable character, and with her big smile and googly eyes intact, Thelma returns to her roots as artist Blabey's lovable illustrations poke fun at the glow of the glitterati.

Blabey's other books are Pig the Pug, Pig the Winner (Pig the Pug), Pig the Star (Pig the Pug), Pig the Fibber, and Pig the Elf (Pig the Pug). (See reviews here).

Trust Me! You Don't Want a Unicorn! by Ame Dyckman

It's a wishing fountain in the park! A chubby boy in an I LOVE UNICORNS tee-shirt and a silver coin in hand is thinking about what wish to make... when....

"WAIT!

You were going to wish for a unicorn, weren't you?

Wishing for a unicorn is a BIG mistake!

But.... unicorns are sweet! What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty! The former unicorn owner offers to tell all.

Where to begin?

Well, they shed--worse than a pampered Pekinese in a tropical storm! And those rarified pointed horns? Well, unicorns have a yen to keep them sharp by punching holes in the walls and ripping up the furniture!

And as for house training? Forget it! You may at first be pleased to find piles of pink cupcakes in the corners--that is, until you find out what they REALLY are. Yep! You're right. You'll need a shovel.

Oh, and one warning! Unicorns are not solitary pets. They prefer to PARTY HEARTY with their peers. And what happens when they do?

You have unleashed the most destructive force in the universe!

And that's just the beginning of the mythical mayhem in Ame Dyckman's latest, You Don't Want a Unicorn! (Little, Brown and Company, 2017). Yep, it's another of those "Be careful what you wish for" cautionary tales, told in the wry and weary tone of a kid who's been there and done that. Artist Liz Climo's skilled comic hand is evident in her illustrations of the downside of owning a magical creature, with a touch of hyperbole, plenty of sight gags, and pinkish POOFS which leave a trail of dreadful disaster behind. And although unicorns make imperfect pets, they are not the worst!

There's something else that's MUCH WORSE.....!

"STOP! You don't want want one of THOSE! Trust me...."

POOF!

What POOFS up next? Spoiler alert! What's worse may be the subject of Ame Dyckman and Liz Climo's next anti--mythical pet tale. Other curious critter books by this talented two include Dyckman's Wolfie the Bunny or Liz Climo's Rory the Dinosaur Wants a Pet.