UNICORNIA

Welcome to Unicornia, a hidden city founded to protect unicorns, once on the brink of extinction.

Here, cars run on cotton candy syrup, traffic lights “play music and spray fireworks,” and the local theme park boasts a roller coaster made of strawberry chewing gum. Translated from Spanish, the book follows Claudia, a young girl who’s just moved to town, as she excitedly describes everything that makes Unicornia special. But the city isn’t perfect; Claudia still has to go to school—carrying her magic weightless cloud backpack. After a few bumps along the road at the Unicornia Academy of Magic, Claudia quickly befriends Pippa, Sara, and a pink crow named Nibbles. The conflicts she encounters are fairly minor; she experiences another letdown when she fails to leap onto a unicorn’s back during a flying lesson, but chocolate croissants quickly improve her mood. “Believe in yourself,” “give it a try,” “friends make everything better,” “maybe we’re more alike than I thought”: Readers who need to hear any of these truisms, or who just want a tale that’s full of smiles and sugary desserts, will gobble this one up. Vicedo’s line art, blushing with pale pink, bedecks every scene with bows, beads, blooms, stars, curlicues, and hearts. It’s a full-length valentine; some may find it cloying, but others will salivate for sequels. Characters have skin the white of the page.

A fantasia to please Candy Land fans.