Customer Reviews

Billie the Unicorn

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Billie the Unicorn is an absolutely fantastic book! If you have young children or if, like me, are a fan of beautiful artwork I cannot recommend this book enough!

For children, the book is large, hardcover and sturdy, full of wonderful, vibrant artwork and has a story any child would like to be read and is also simple enough for them to read themselves. The characters are very likable and identifiable. The dangers faced by Billie aren't too scary for young children and the ending is a happy one.

Is Billie the Unicorn just for girls? I'd actually say no. The unicorns in the book are both girls and boys and it's clear the author was more interested in telling a good children's story with lavish, detailed, imagination-expanding artwork than pandering to any stereotypical, big-business idea of any one market or demographic to boost sales. In other words, it's not a book about playing dress-up, shopping, tea parties (though, granted they do have tea once), gossip and every shade of pink a cynical marketer can come up with. It's a story about discovery, friendship, personal growth, wonder and finding one's place in the world. I've seen several reviews that stated young boys loved the book every bit as much as young girls.

For adults, yes, the story is sweet and enjoyable, but it's short and I certainly won't pretend that it's not written for young children. What I can recommend about this book to adults is that truly fantastic art. I bought this book for myself just for the amazing artwork and I was not disappointed in the slightest. Every picture reproduced in the book was hand drawn and colored with an amazing mixture of marker and color pencil. Every image is highly detailed and beautiful. The reproduction of the art is crisp and vibrant with the art running right to the edge of each page. I think you simply can't beat the price for an art book of this quality.

Billie the Unicorn is a wonderful book for any young child. I actually feel bad so many children won't have a copy of Billie the Unicorn of their own. For the rest of us, Billie the Unicorn is full, front to back, of stunning, wonderful artwork. Like I said, I can't recommend this book enough.

I teach a classroom full of 4 year old boys, and I brought this book in to read. One little boy in particular was mesmerized by the drawings. Usually when I read to him, he gets bored and wants to turn the page before I finish the paragraph. This time, I would finish reading the words on the page and he would sit and stare at the drawings on the pages until I prompted him to turn the page. He especially loved the robot guards. As soon as it ended, he asked to read it again.

Some of the boys I work with live with unconventional families, so it was nice to have an example of a girl living with her cousins instead of her mom and dad. I choose this book often when reading to children who don't live with their parents.

We rotate books, and I put Billie away for a few weeks. This morning, one 4-year old saw a bean sprout we planted in the garden and he shouted "That's just like Billie's cornstalk!" Another child asked who Billie was, and they began to talk about unicorns and gardens and queens. This afternoon I got out the book and we read it three times.

I recommend this book for any classroom or family! It's sturdy, too, and has survived well with my very active boys.