Shannon Hale and Leuyen Pham is one of my favorite collaborations in children's literature. Seeing a picture book from them immediately made me smile.

It's nothing earth shattering. It's nothing immediately spectacular. But a cat wanting to be a unicorn (despite its naysayers) is funny. And then unicorn who makes everything better.....oh it's just sweet. ( )

OMG.
The level of cuteness in this book is MINDBLOWING...not to mention the FABULOUS messages of KINDNESS, FRIENDSHIP, and YOU DO YOU!

All Kitty wants is to be accepted. She wants to be seen for the fiercely fabulous creature she is...which is not merely a kitty, but a kitty-CORN! Yes, that's right. She's a furrily magnificent, magically majestical stallion-like critter that everyone adores...and with her adorable little rainbow horn, how could anyone dispute her claims? Well, apparently Parakeet and Gecko can...and put her through her paces, they do in spades! Every time she makes her case, they point out all the holes in it...until one day, her shadow isn't really her's and she discovers not only her inner kitty-corn, but a true blue friend.

I can't tell you how my heart melted when she found a fellow kitty-corn. It was just TOO SWEET! I mean, being right is nice, but being kind is nicer. It certainly was a taste of their own medicine to our bird and lizard antagonists turned wannabe kitty-corns. *giggle* (Special note to readers...make sure you follow all the pages from start to finish to catch a glimpse of their attempts to become one of the horned few.) All in all, it was a beautiful reminder of how being true to ourselves is always in fashion, and kindness isn't simply an accessory, but a way of being.



**copy received for review; opinions are TOTALLY my own exuberant thoughts! ( )

Kitty believes she is a unicorn, but Gecko and Parakeet try to bring her back to reality. But when a real, live unicorn shows up to admire Kitty's "fuzzy ears and silver whiskers," Kitty gasps with joy. Now there is a pair of Kitty-Corns: a kitten with a horn, and a unicorn with a pair of fuzzy pink ears. In a double-page spread of the two looking into each others' eyes, Kitty says, "I see you." On the final spread, the two curl up for a nap, and the low sun makes their shadows into a heart.

Sparkly, feel-good magic from dream team LeUyen Pham and Shannon Hale. ( )

Okay, I didn't even realize that the author was one of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale, when I picked this one up. The super sugary looking cover is what caught my eye! The illustrations by LeUyen Pham are so adorably cute and endearing!
And the story! I just kept saying "awwww" at each turn of the page.
Positive message about self-confidence, friendship and being who YOU think you are ( )