Review By: Erica Young
Published: 2017
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Picture Book
Audience: Preschool – Kindergarten
Goodreads Link: Thelma the Unicorn
Content Warnings: none
Publisher’s Summary
From the best-selling author of Pig the Pug comes this joyful book about learning to love who you are… even if you don’t have sparkles.
Thelma dreams of being a glamorous unicorn. Then in a rare pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma’s wish comes true.
She rises to instant international stardom, but at an unexpected cost. After a while, Thelma realizes that she was happier as her ordinary, sparkle-free self. So she ditches her horn, scrubs off her sparkles, and returns home, where her best friend is waiting for her with a hug. From award-winning author Aaron Blabey comes this joyful book about learning to love who you are…even if you don’t have sparkles
Review
I tend to shy away from books about unicorns, but when my daughter received this book as a gift, I was pleasantly surprised. It has a great message: love who you are. This is such an important message for my young students to recognize, especially in a world where children often compare themselves to others or to unrealistic media standards. It is easy to think we “might be happier if” we were different or more glamorous, just as Thelma the pony believed she needed to be a unicorn. But really, we need to embrace who we are, what we have, and find joy to be happy!
The story is told in a fun, rhyming way that is easy for young students to understand the message of self-acceptance and authenticity. Thelma’s journey to international stardom and her eventual realization that she was happier as her ordinary, sparkle-free self is a lighthearted yet effective lesson in contentment. My students usually love this book, and it works wonderfully as a discussion starter on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) topics such as valuing your unique qualities and resisting peer pressure to conform.
