My oldest daughter is seven now. When she was five, one of the librarians at our local library of, who saw the super hero trade paperbacks I was checking out for her (and for myself), asked me if my daughter liked unicorns. I believe I responded, “Who doesn’t?” At which point she insisted I put a copy of Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson on hold.
The moral of this story is: always trust your librarian.
Both my daughter and I love the Phoebe and her Unicorn series. It’s about a young girl who feels a little bit weird who happens to befriend a unicorn with the fantastic name of Marigold Heavenly Nostrils. It’s a sweet, funny comic without being treacly. It is exactly what I would have wanted to read as a child in between Calvin and Hobbes and the Far Side. I would go so far as to say it is the Calvin and Hobbes of today. (BTW, parts of Calvin and Hobbes does not hold up so well anymore. In our current world of school shootings and unapologetic misogynists, it feels uncomfortable at times.)
This volume covers the end of one school year, summer break, and the beginning of the next year. There is some good character development for Dakota, Phoebe’s arch frenemy, who finally starts to realize that being “cool” and hanging with the “cool kids” is starting to interfere with her actual interests.
I highly recommend this volume and this series to readers of all ages.
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