Title Margaret's Unicorn Series --- Author Briony May Smith Illustrator Briony May Smith Publisher Anne Schwartz Books - 2020 First Printing Anne Schwartz Books - 2020 Category Children Warnings None Main Characters Margaret Main Elements Unicorns

Margaret's whole world changes when her family moves to a cottage by the sea to be near her grandma. One evening, Margaret spots a mist over the water. No, that's not mist...clouds maybe? No, they're unicorns descending onto the shore! They vanish as quickly as they'd appeared, but accidentally leave behind a baby, tangled in the weeds. Margaret, lonely and in need of a friend, brings him home and cares for him through the fall and winter. Together, they chase the waves, stomp on frozen puddles, and build snow unicorns. When spring finally comes around, and the other unicorns return, Margaret's takes her small friend back to his family... but these two won't forget one another. And though Margaret misses him, she has made a new friend, and her new cottage is starting to feel like home.

I love how this tale mixes in a bit of folklore, when Margaret brings the lost baby unicorn home her Grandma says how she didn't think there were any unicorns anymore, but when she was younger the villagers used to watch the unicorns head to Unicorn Island for the winter. This somehow added an extra level of magic, and it was nice that the girl didn't have to have a secret unicorn, or even an imaginary one, but she got to share this wonder with her grandmother. And I loved how unicorns drank water touched by the moon and it would make their horns glow. Its an easy ingredient to find, but its still magical and beautiful. The story takes place mostly over the winter, so there are alot of cozy scenes which just seemed so nice as I'm in October right now and its getting cold and thinking of warm cozy spots to curl up makes for happy thoughts. That baby unicorn was just the right size for snuggling.

So no rainbows, no sparkles, no glitter poop. Just a really beautiful story with gorgeous illustrations. This is what a unicorn book should be. Just a smidge of magic, enough to cause wonder, but not so much that you can't believe that it could really be true. Perhaps in some norther stormswept place, the unicorns still drift like snowflakes down a hill with the coming of spring, and then vanish over the sea with the last wind of summer...

A beautiful book.