Gr. 2-5. Sir Dauntless, the Knight of the Golden Plain, rides again to undo the havoc wreaked by Sir Maladroit when he accidentally brought a tapestry unicorn to life and inflicted it with a toothache. Soon, though, Sir Dauntless, learns that he must do something much more difficult than facing the unicorn--he must allow his beloved Lady Dorabella to do so. As he says, "I will be no true knight if I cannot have the courage to stand aside to let my lady prove her courage." That may be intellectually satisfying to those who object to the "knight saves lady" motif, but the resulting story seems less like a young boy's adventurous daydream, which was the charm of the first two books in the series. While Donna Diamond's illustrations lack the bravado and humor of Simont's artwork for the earlier books; these illustrations are lovely, delicate, and dreamlike. Despite its flaws, this is still good beginning fantasy, and one fans will want to read. Carolyn Phelan
From Kirkus Reviews
A third book about Sir Dauntless, hero of The Knight of the Golden Plain (1983), whose adventures, once again, conclude when it's time for tea. Hunter navigates between classic derring-do and a child's imaginative simulation of it with wit and skill. Her tale of a boy-knight tracking a unicorn is full of such time- honored elements as a black charger and the ``beautiful Dorabella of the sapphire-blue eyes and hair of moonlit gold,'' but there's a gentle glint of parody in the telling and some amusingly whimsical details--e.g., this unicorn is particularly dangerous because he has a toothache. And the outcome has a contemporary ring: Sir Dauntless is persuaded that Dorabella must face the unicorn not only to uphold tradition but also because the highest courage is ``the kind that will force you to stand by and let your lady prove herself to be as brave as the lady of every knight should be.'' Fast and fun. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction/Young reader. 7-10)rave as the lady of every knight should be.'' Fast moving and fun. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction/Young reader. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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