There Was a Silly Unicorn Who Wanted to Fly

by Ken Geist, Eric Barclay (Illustrator)

Overview

Follow this silly unicorn who tries all she can to FLY, in this hilarious read-aloud twist on There Was an Old Lady!.

There was a silly unicorn who wanted to fly.

I don't know why, but she wanted to fly.

So she gave it a try...

So begins this humorous twist on the beloved rhyme "There Was an Old Lady", following one little unicorn who wants to take flight. Will swallowing a bee help her fly? Or a butterfly? Or an owl? With bouncing, rhyming text that follows a familiar rhythm, an adorable unicorn front-and-center, and a magical rainbow surprise, this charming twist on a classic rhyme is sure to delight young readers!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545651882
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	06/01/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	870,430
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Ken Geist loves to write parodies of classic favorites. His Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark was an IRA Children's Choice. He lives in New York City with his twins.
Eric Barclay grew up in a small Texas town where there were no bus stops and certainly no elephants. He now lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, Michelle; their daughters, Emma and Paige; and their dog, Brody, and cat, Lilly. You can visit Eric at www.ericbarclay.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Sheep Dog and Sheep Sheep by Eric Barclay

"The illustrations [are] humorous and energetic" — Kirkus Reviews

"[I]llustrations by Barclay leave plenty of room for giggle-inducing word choices...as a sweet friendship burgeons." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2021-03-02
Will this little unicorn get her wish to soar through the bright, blue sky?

The action plays out in the patterned manner of “There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly.” Unfortunately, it struggles to achieve that classic’s familiar meter and scansion. “There was a silly unicorn who wanted to fly. / She tried by swallowing a bee, OH MY! / The buzzing would surely make her go high.” She swallows a butterfly to assist the bee. Unfortunately for the other winged creatures in her vicinity, that does not help her to “dance with the trees.” She next gulps down a bat. Still grounded, she gobbles an owl, to no avail. Even swallowing an eagle doesn’t get her into the air. But when she sees a rainbow, it magically lifts her into the sky…and the friends she swallowed in her misguided attempts to get airborne all magically pop out so they can “swirl and whirl and dance with the trees.” Barclay’s pudgy, pink unicorn and bright, generic landscapes can’t save this leaden effort, though the swirl of cakes and candies in the unicorn’s stomach do nicely echo the treacle in the text. The verse is maddeningly difficult to read aloud due to its clunky meter and frequent departure from its model’s form. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.9-by-19-inch double-page spreads viewed at 15.9% of actual size.)

Even the most rabid members of the unicorn-loving herd should stampede away. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews