Hello, friends! Our book today is Unicorns Are The Worst! by Alex Willan, a hilarious tale of mistaken impressions and the importance of overcoming them.

Life has simply been disastrous for the unnamed goblin narrator since the meadow next door was taken over by – ugh – unicorns. All their prancing and glitter and harp music is utterly unbearable to the serious and studious goblin, who prefers to spent his days quietly studying spells and sorting ingredients. And don’t get him started on the tea parties, the ones they never even INVITE him to – not that he’d want to go anyway! Yet when goblin finds himself in a jam, he might be surprised how useful those silly unicorn traits can be… and why he should know not to judge a book by its cover.

Adorable, funny, and with a great message. Goblin certainly seems to have it out for the mostly-innocuous unicorns, but his tirades begin to show the true motivation behind his ire: he feels left out and doesn’t know how to connect with his new neighbors. When the unicorns use their prancing and glitter to defend the goblin from a dragon attack, he realizes that their seemingly frivolous hobbies have value, just as his magical studies do. It’s a nice way to show that there is value in our differences, and that we shouldn’t judge the interests of others simply because they don’t align with our own. The illustrations are delightful, using bright colors and sparkles (naturally) to show a visual contrast between the carefree unicorns and the more drab and staid goblin, and creating tension and comedy with dramatic angles and visual gags. The length is perfect for a storytime, I loved reading the expressive and conversational dialogue aloud, and JJ was tickled pink by the humor. This one is a treat – a throughly entertaining title with a solid lesson, and it’s Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)