Title Unicorns! Unicorns! Series --- Author Geraldine McCaughrean Cover Art Sophie Windham Publisher Orchard Books - 1997 First Printing Orchard Books - 1997 Category Children Warnings None Main Characters Noah Main Elements Unicorns

"Unicorns! Unicorns!" Noah calls. "Come aboard! The flood is coming!" The tarantulas terrapins and tortoises and all the other animals hear Noah's voice but what is keeping the Unicorns? Will they come in time? Or will the world lose for ever the most fabulous beasts? The rich and detailed illustrations by Sophie Windham match all the magic and drama of this variation of an age-old story, beautifully told by a prize-winning author.

The story goes, the unicorns were too busy playing and being silly to heed the warnings of Noah and board the Ark in time to avoid being washed away in the flood. And that's why we have no unicorns today.

But that is not how the tale is told here. Here the unicorns come when they are called, but they have a long way to go, and along they way they have to stop to help other animals. The turtles that were too afraid to cross the river. The deer that got stuck in the mud. The monkey who were being the silly ones and didn't want to stop playing. Because of all those delays the unicorns came too late and were washed away. However they were rewarded for their kindness and now you can still see their kin in the sea foam as it crashes upon the shore. I've often wondered at that connection between unicorns and the ocean, perhaps this tale explains it.

The artwork was beautiful, though some creatures looked more like the versions you find in medieval bestiaries than their proper anatomy, but perhaps that was intentional, to provide an older, more biblical feel to the story. Whether you are religious or not, this is a beautiful unicorn book.