Ever since stumbling upon the Katamari comic book on Netgalley, I go through their comics section every few months to see if there’s anything else that’ll grab me. Last time I was browsing through, there was Unicorn on a Roll by Dana Simpson, a kids’ comic, but I thought, why not? I can read it to my kid. She likes comics. She likes unicorns. And I like stories with female protagonists that I can read to her. Besides, I think they had the first book in the Scholastic flyer so I figured it couldn’t be awful (although since it seems like 75% of the books lately have been Lego Star Wars Vs Chimera character dictionaries, so maybe I’m giving too much weight to being included in a Scholastic flyer).
In preparation (yes, I am lame enough that I prep for reading books), I got the first unicorn book out of the library. I read it to my kid and was fairly meh. Phoebe seemed like a run-of-the-mill Disney channel brat, whiny and self-entitled (the introduction said that this was supposed to make her real or relatable or something). It isn’t like I’m a fan of the bland Jack and Annie squeaky clean characters either, but something about Phoebe rubbed me the wrong way. Marigold (the unicorn) too. So with trepidation, we moved on to Unicorn on a Roll.
And…it wasn’t half bad. Maybe exposure to Phoebe and Marigold dulled my initial distaste, or maybe they are just less irritating this time round. Whereas the first book made me cringe, the second was enjoyable, even a bit cute in parts. I love the dad playing video games. Made me wish that we had a console (well, we do have a dusty PS2 whose controllers, the last time I played for five minutes, set off the arthritis in my knuckles so I haven’t played since).
Since this is marketed as a kids’ book, I asked my kid to give me a review. So if you’d rather read her (prompted) review than mine, here it is:
Q: What is the story about? It’s about a little girl and a unicorn.
Q: Tell me two things that you remember from the story: 1. The went to a unicorn party. 2. There was a play but the day of the play Phoebe was sick and couldn’t go.
Q: What are some adjectives that describe the book?: funny, colourful, interesting.
Q: Rate this book: Five out of five stars.
So there you have it.
Unicorn on a Roll by Dana Simpson went on sale May 26, 2015.
I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.