Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great

By Bob Shea
Published in 2013

Why we chose this book:
It is competing with Not Quite Narwhal in the 2018 March Book Madness.

Mom's Review

A goat sees past his jealousy to befriend a unicorn.

When a unicorn moves into a goat's community, the goat is jealous of the attention showered on the newcomer. The goat narrates how the unicorn outshines him, makes fun of the unicorn, and then meets the unicorn. The unicorn is impressed by the goat and invites him to play at the park, which they do.

I faced a couple of challenges when reading Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great to T. The story is conveyed in dialogue without speech bubbles or quotations, so I added, "said the goat," or, "the unicorn replied," to help T's understanding. T also did not understand the goat's mockery of the unicorn, and I didn't explain it to him. The depiction of the goat also changes color a few times, prompting T to ask, "Who's that?" and "Is that the goat too?" Overall, the book was not a great fit for a three-year-old.

Son's Review
(age 3 years)

Before reading:
Son: Do you like the endpaper? I do. Yum.

Mom: Yes, I do. Thanks for asking. Yum?
(Only after reading did I realize that the endpaper was cupcakes.)

While reading:
Mom: How does that unicorn look?

Son: Happy.

Mom: Um. He's supposed to look sad.

Mom: "This [goat] cheese is fantastic." Do you like goat cheese?

Son: Yeah!

Mom: What is the goat pointing to? What do you think of that?

Son: Doughnuts! I think that is yummy!

After reading:
Mom: Did you like it? Why?

Son: I just liked it. I liked the endpaper.