DAY OF THE UNICORN

A third book about Sir Dauntless, hero of The Knight of the Golden Plain (1983), whose adventures, once again, conclude when it's time for tea. Hunter navigates between classic derring-do and a child's imaginative simulation of it with wit and skill. Her tale of a boy-knight tracking a unicorn is full of such time-honored elements as a black charger and the ""beautiful Dorabella of the sapphire-blue eyes and hair of moonlit gold,"" but there's a gentle glint of parody in the telling and some amusingly whimsical details -- e.g., this unicorn is particularly dangerous because he has a toothache. And the outcome has a contemporary ring: Sir Dauntless is persuaded that Dorabella must face the unicorn not only to uphold tradition but also because the highest courage is ""the kind that will force you to stand by and let your lady prove herself to be as brave as the lady of every knight should be."" Fast and fun. Illustrations not seen.