Margaret's Unicorn

Product Information

The illustrations are beautiful, a book about unicorns makes you fear the worst, lilac, pale pink, sparkly stuff, none of that to be seen here thankfully, lovely scenes of Scottish rural life. This is probably the best picture book I've read all year, and the strongest unicorn book I've ever read. After they're gone, Margaret finds a baby unicorn tangled in the weeds and she brings it home to winter with her in the old stone cottage.

The illustrations are so beautiful and lovely and I just fell in love with this story for the illustrations alone! Absolutely beautifully illustrated - some of the best lighting (warm and inviting) and shadow I have seen in a children's book.

I’ve been on a quest to check out books from the library that appeal to my inner child and this absolutely does. Margaret, lonely and in need of a friend, brings him home and cares for him through the fall and winter. Overall it’s a lovely story in general though, and despite the ending I still find the main story really lovely and magical to read, especially when you look at all of the illustrations too!

I found it absolutely delightful, appreciating both the sensitively told, ultimately heartwarming tale, and the charming, expressive artwork. Two minor disappointing details, the text for one illustration tells you they are picking up and feeling a horse chestnut but the whole page illustration shows you a sweet chestnut tree and sweet chestnut, which looks very different and one is edible and the other isn't. She brings it home, and everyone in the family has a hand in helping to raise it during the year the unicorn herd is gone--Grandmother, Mom, and Dad, besides Margaret.A perfect read for unicorn lovers, this beautiful and utterly transporting picture book tells the story of what every little girl wishes would happen to her: a girl finds and takes care of a lost baby unicorn. The use of light in these illustrations is so beautiful that you can almost feel the sun on your skin. Margaret and the unicorn are there for one another when they both feel alone and friendless, but they both grow through the year and new relationships await.

It's an important message for children that wild creatures are never "ours" -- they deserve their freedom -- but we can have a special connection with them, nonetheless. It’s not a bad ending at all, and in fact Margaret grows through the story and I like how she ends up making a new friend, but I felt like that last page with Margaret and the unicorn ended a little sadly, and if I’m honest, it felt like the author wasn’t really sure how to finish the story so just ended it too fast and in a way which could have been more magical. The day they move into the big, empty place with its weird smells, Margaret's mother puts a thermos of hot chocolate into Margaret's hands and sends her out to explore within the agreed-upon boundaries. The story ends well, although if I’m honest I was a little disappointed with how things finished in the end for the Margaret and the unicorn.Margaret's whole world changes when her family moves to a cottage by the sea to be near her grandma. An online friend brought my attention to this one, last year, but I had to wait a while until my public library obtained a copy. Each picture is so detailed and lovely to look at, with so much to see and such cute images of the unicorn and Margaret. There are many books out there aimed at unicorn-loving little girls, but this book is so much more and so much better than that. A heart-warming story of friendship and kindness brought to magical life by Briony May Smith's enchanting characters and breathtaking coastal landscapes.