Twelve Dancing Unicorns - Hardcover

Heyman, Alissa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1402787324 ISBN 13: 9781402787324

Publisher: Union Square Kids, 2014

Synopsis

Once upon a time, a king owned twelve enchanting unicorns that he locked up with golden chains. But every morning, hed find the beautiful creatures peacefully asleep in their corral—with their chains shattered. Puzzled, he promised a reward to anyone who could reveal the unicorns secret. With the help of a magic cloak, a little girl sets out to discover the truth . . . and help the special unicorn that she loves the most. This charming variation on “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” stars a delightfully spirited heroine and twelve magical unicorns.

About this title

About the Author

Alissa Heyman is a writer and editor who received her M.F.A. in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College. Her other writing credits include editing The Best Poems of the English Language (Mud Puddle Books) and abridging and adapting The Big Book series for Sterling, including The Big Book of Horror, The Big Book of Fairies, and The Big Book of Pirates. Justin Gerard has done illustration for DreamWorks, Warner Brothers, Disney, HarperCollins, Penguin, Little, Brown, and others. The Society of Illustrators featured his illustration “Beowulf and Grendel” in the 50th Annual of American Illustration, from his IPPY Award-winning book, Beowulf, Book I: Grendel the Ghastly. Justin lives in Greenville, SC.

Reviews

K-Gr 3—A retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," this story features 12 unicorns belonging to a benevolent king, who keeps them behind a fence. Though they are guarded, each morning their golden chains are found broken. A little girl uses a convenient invisibility cloak to follow them and discovers that they escape each night to feed themselves on the freedom that gives life to their magic. After spending time with the unicorns, she convinces the king that it is in his best interest to let them go; he will be able to visit them in a magical forest if he does. Her reward is a gift of the smallest unicorn, set free each night to dance with her friends. Ready made for the animation generation, Gerard's digitally enhanced images are both lifelike and ethereal and combine light-bathed sketchiness with characters straight out of the movies; indeed, Gerard has a background in illustration for Disney and other film studios. This title is one more in a crowded field, but it stands out for Heyman's voice; it retains the narrative quality of a traditional tale but features a vocabulary and sentence structure simple enough for the young readers who will be attracted to it. Paired with illustrations ready-made for the animation generation, this title will be welcome in larger collections.—Lisa Lehmuller, East Providence School District, RI

Edition details

• Publisher: Union Square Kids
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1402787324
• ISBN 13: 9781402787324
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Gerard Justin
• Number of pages: 32