Review by Booklist Review
Lily is a bright-pink unicorn with a pale-blue tummy and tail. She loves everything about her life and what she likes to do. Pages teem with an astounding compendium of examples of things she likes to make (a robot crane, a spy-satellite viewer, a gorilla clock, a radio fortune-teller) and do (playing the banjo, exploring beyond the galaxy, tie-dyeing, puddle jumping). She enjoys music, messes, and make-believe. When she meets Roger, a penguin who is lonely and afraid, Lily challenges him to be her friend and have adventures. She introduces him to games and dreams up inventions and exploits guaranteed to please. The glum penguin doesn't bite, but Lily won't take no for an answer, and finally, he accepts her friendship and the idea of having fun. The colorful hand-drawn block letters of the text and expansive white space surrounding the multitude of illustrations highlight this story of friendship and the emotions of feeling different. This great book for kids who are unsure about stepping out is packed with ideas for what to do next.--Gepson, Lolly Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Clayton (A Is for Awesome) introduces a pink-and-blue unicorn with enough joie de vivre to power an entire kingdom. Despite Lily's boundless enthusiasm for activities that range from playing instruments to baking cake, her new penguin friend Roger doesn't like to do much of anything at all. His favorite sport is "resting," and he only begrudgingly accompanies Lily on her expeditions, his brow perpetually furrowed. Clayton crowds his pages with tiny illustrations that show Lily's numerous interests and friends, as well as her futile attempts to interest Roger in riding an elephant, flying in a hot-air balloon, and giving away presents (to a green slug monster), among dozens and dozens of other things to do. Lily's ungainly appearance-her skinny limbs, tubular torso, and elongated snout don't exactly scream "majestic"-makes her tennis playing and scuba diving all the funnier. Bubbly, chaotically arranged type mimics Lily's higgledy-piggledy, larger-than-life personality. Roger's stick-in-the-mud attitude (it turns out to be rooted in anxiety) is a welcome foil for Lily's relentless optimism, which, as any reader who has had a bad day knows, can be overwhelming. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Adventuresome Lily (a pink unicorn) tries to convince risk-averse Roger (a penguin) to participate in a long list of adventures, games, and other fun activities. Roger, with a tightly furrowed brow, fears many "scary things" in the world and worries that he doesn't have the skills that Lily does to build a helicopter, invent new planets, play tic-tac-toe, scale volcanoes, etc. In the end, they compromise and agree to make an effort at friendship. Lily and Roger's stream of imaginary activities, objects, and situations are authentically childlike. Lily loves tie-dyeing and looking at clouds, while Roger fears oversleeping, broken promises, and tiny germs. Clayton renders these details in breezy, colorful pen-and-ink cartoons that favor whimsy over precision. Each page is packed with labeled images and hand-lettered text adding extra personality. Children will likely want to pore over the art more than once.-Nora Clancy, Teachers College Community School, New York City (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Life-loving unicorn Lily finds a new friend in penguin Roger, who doesn't match her for adventuresomeness ("His favorite destination is nowhere"; "His favorite sport is resting"; etc.). If readers can endure the visually cacophonous layouts, they'll find a sweet denouement at the end of some funny images (see stationary Roger looking annoyed when Lily tries to play dodgeball with him). (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Readers first see Lily the unicorn, a picture of exuberance in pink and blue, bounding across a field of flowers. She has energy and enthusiasm for many activities and friendsdoesn't everyone? Introducing herself with big bubble letters, Lily floats in white space and informs children that she likes to make things. The proof: She is surrounded by labeled thumbnail drawings of a multitude of inventions, such as an alien planet jumper, a butterfly meter and an electric kazoo. In the next few pages, she reveals that she likes making music, a mess and friends, all depicted in a frenzy of illustrations. Some youngsters will embrace the catalog of ideas; others, like new friend Roger, a penguin with creases across his brow, may be overwhelmed by the (visual) cacophony. He does not respond to any of Lily's many suggestions. Roger finally discloses, in a four-spread outburst that reflects his frustration, that his problem is fear. Beautifully paced, the next four spreads feature just the two figures on a white background focused solely on each other, allowing them, along with readers, to take a breath and digest the all-too-familiar issue. Lily is accepting and reassuring. They rest a beat, then romp together through the flowers. All will agree: Lily is lovely. (Picture book. 4-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
