The Naughtiest Unicorn; Pip Bird, illustrated by David O'Connell

The Naughtiest Unicorn sparkles with as much warmth and charm as the glitter on the unicorns horns. It is a humorous fantasy adventure about friendship and never giving up with plenty of glitter, rainbows and unicorn poo.

Lots of people in Mira’s family have been chosen to go to Unicorn School and more than anything else in the world, Mira wants to go to Unicorn School too. She knows everything there is to know about unicorns and she can’t wait to have a unicorn-best-friend, go on quests and earn lots of medals.

When her dream finally comes true she finds that Unicorn School isn’t quite how she imagined it would be. She is paired with Dave who is hungry and not helpful, greedy and not glittery, and would rather run away than be ridden. There seems to be no end to the trouble he can get Mira into. But ever the optimist Mira refuses to give up on him and when danger presents itself in the unicorn world it will be up to Mira and Dave to save the day.

The Naughtiest Unicorn is like Harry Potter for younger children. Children are specially selected to go to a magical school, you travel there via a secret portal and children find out who their unicorn will be at a special unicorn pairing ceremony. There are so many comparisons I could make and what it all adds up to is a very enjoyable read. Two of the main themes in the book are diversity and inclusion. Rani and her family are BAME and Darcy is in a wheelchair. There are also messages of friendship, kindness, optimism and loyalty.

At the back of the book readers will find some unicorn themed jokes and there is a nice little quiz to see who their unicorn best friend would be. A very accessible book for readers who are beginning to read chapter books. The chapters are short and the text is nicely spaced out. There are hilarious illustrations throughout produced by David O’Connell. To help readers get to grips with the setting of the book there is a map before the action gets going.

Recommended for 6+.