Reviews: Phoebe and Her Unicorn

Phoebe and Her Unicorn: A Heavenly Nostrils Chronicle by Dana Simpson (Andrews McMeel Publishing, September 2014)

I’ve had this book in my pile of TBRs for a while.  And I admit, I was avoiding it.  Because . . . well, it’s pink and has a girl and unicorn on the cover.  And while I’ve had my fascination with unicorns over the years, as an adult I have little patience for the terribly twee sorts of stories that often involve girls and unicorns.  Then a friend mentioned I really should read it.  And that Peter Beagle had done an introduction.  And while I may have limited patience for most unicorn-related fiction out there, Peter Beagle has written The Last Unicorn–which is quite possibly one of my favorite fantasy tales of all time.  And I knew right then, if Peter Beagle had written the introduction, then needed to sit down and read this book!

For those who may not be familiar Phoebe and Her Unicorn began life as comic strip titled Girl which won the Amazon’s Comic Strip Superstar competition in 2009.   Her comic  Girl  became Heavenly Nostrils  and the story morphed into the friendship between a girl and her unicorn.  While the strip is available as a syndicated webcomic strip at GoComics, readers will now have a collection of the strips edited and streamlined into a single volume.  Dana Simpson has many fans for her latest comic strip work, including Peter Beagle himself.

  The premise of this comic-strip story is that Phoebe, a nine-year old girl, encounters a unicorn and manages to manipulate her way into having the unicorn become her best friend.  The strip follows Phoebe and her new friend, Marigold Heavenly Nostrils as they play and plot and occasionally encounter Phoebe’s family or classmates.  So we have a slightly geeky and definitely weird Phoebe, and the narcissistic Marigold (because she is, after all, a unicorn, the epitome of loveliness and awesomeness!) .  The interaction of these two characters gives the creator plenty of material to turn into witty dialog and wry humor.   This work is being compared to Calvin and Hobbes, but while the two strips have some similarities (one real-world character, one slightly unreal character as best friends, clever dialogue)  I don’t really feel they’re that similar beyond the surface.  Phoebe’s unicorn is very real, to the point of interacting with the girl’s parents and classmates.  She’s not an imaginary creature, or a toy.  Marigold uses her “Shield of Boringness” to prevent humans from becoming overwhelmed at seeing a unicorn.  Phoebe lacks Calvin’s more precociousness and elaborate plans–she isn’t extraordinarily talented, intelligent or even extraordinarily bad, she’s just a little awkward, a little weird and a whole lot lonely nine-year-old girl. She manages to win a wish from Marigold when her skipping stone hits the unicorn in the head and snaps her free of staring at her reflection.  Phoebe wishes to be the unicorn’s best friend, and thus begins the journey!

This is a story that has it’s wellsprings in a dream that many, many girls probably had when they were younger.  I know I spent much of my fourth and fifth grade years drawing unicorns.  But rather than being the saccharine sweet story of that dream-come-true,  the comic turns it into something much more witty and fun for middle-grade audiences, as well as older adult readers like me.  Neither character is perfect (although Marigold would like to think she is), but they complement each other well.  Despite Marigold’s narcissism and conviction that humans are ugly, she does come to share an actual friendship with Phoebe.  In turn Phoebe puts up with Marigold’s narcissism because if you’d spent your childhood day-dreaming of unicorns, wouldn’t you be willing do forgive a lot to have one as a friend?  I love the pure fun of it all.  From Phoebe’s crazy plans and off-beat style, to Marigold’s tendency to take everything humans say a bit too literally.

 Like any good comic strip writer, Dana Simpson has honed her craft,  the clean lines and brevity of text are testament to the work put in.   Marigold’s form and elegance echo the unicorn from the animated The Last Unicorn, even with just a few lines to depict her form. Phoebe, on the other hand is a freckled, gap-toothed girl who marches to the beat of her own drummer.  The collection  of strips includes the Sunday strips that are outside the particular story going on in the regular strips,  but it doesn’t break up the flow that much.  Any reader who enjoys the comic is not going to be put off by the occasional Sunday strip.

I can tell you now that there are plenty of my young library patrons who will see the cover and grab this to read, because –UNICORNS!  A perfect fit for the younger middle grade readers who are outgrowing simple, sweet stories and looking for something funnier to read, but still want to stick to the fantasy genre. I just wish the cover wasn’t quite so pink . . . because there are readers out there who would love this collection, but might not get past the cover.   Given that the comic strip’s online iteration has more strips and story arcs, this is hopefully only the first of the Heavenly Nostrils chronicles and that we’ll see more volumes in the future!

Note: An advanced reader copy was provided by the publisher.

Publisher: Andrew McMeel Publishing

Expected Publication Date: September 2014

ISBN13:     1449446205

Recommended for ages 6-12

A Tuesday Ten: Let there be Unicorns!

So . . . just last night I went to see The Last Unicorn on the big screen.  Considering how much I loved the movie as a girl, and still love it as an adult it was a high point in fangirl delight.  Still living in that glow, I realized I had a list to do.  So why not unicorns?  I figured it would be easy to put the list together.  And then I started listing the ones I knew . . . and realized that most of my favorite unicorn stories are either young adult or pure adult fantasy.  I admit to some surprise.  Oh there’s a whole bevy of unicorn and princess treacle out there (keyword search “princess” and “unicorn” in Goodreads and you’ll see what I mean).  But when I’m looking for more substantial fare, more meaningful or interesting Unicorn tales, they are hard to come by.

With the inclusion of some picture books, I managed to make it to ten, but it wasn’t  near as simple as I thought it should be!

1.

Dark Whispers by Bruce Coville (Scholastic, 2008)

This is the third book in The Unicorn Chronicles.  Usually I list the first in a series, but I really loved the cover art on this one, so felt I had to include it.  Young Cara, the preteen who is the human protagonist of the series,  Has become a friend and ambassador to the unicorns, and must help to protect them from the evil that seeks to destroy them.    From what I’ve read, the first two books in this series: Into the Land of the Unicorns (1994) and Song of the Wanderer (1999)  are much lighter and more innocent in tone.  This third book and the fourth: The Last Hunt (2010) are a bit more complex and darker in tone.  Coville is one of the few to actually address the trope of young girls and unicorns, and does it fairly well.  He’s  another unicorn fiction story as well :Sarah’s Unicorn (1979).

2.

Birth of the Firebringer by Meredith Ann Pierce (Firebird, c1985)

Unicorns vs. Gryphons!  Our young protagonist is a unicorn prince destined for heroics and great deeds.  Unlike the traditional view of unicorns, Meredith Ann Pierce has crafted a race of warrior unicorns, fierce and battle-ready!  This book is first in a trilogy that also includes: Dark Moon (1992) and Son of the Summer Stars (1996).  Dramatic high fantasy plotting devoid of human characters and a favorite for those who remember them.  While I was never as attached to this series as some of the author’s other titles, I had friends who really loved them as tweens.

3.

The Road to Balinor by Mary Stanton (Scholastic, 1988)

The first book in the 8-book series, Unicorns of Balinor. A young readers series that, while simple to appeal to intermediary readers, is one of the series I could find that didn’t quite seem so candy coated..  In this first book, we have a young girl who has lost her memory, but it turns out she’s not from Earth.  Instead she is a princess sent to Earth in an effort to protect her from the war raging in her parents’ kingdom.  With her is her unicorn companion, and the two of them must find the road back to Balinor.  It’s not an original plot and I don’t think it tries to be, but it’ll appeal to the right crowd.  What makes this series notable to me is that Mary Stanton is also a writer for YA/adult readers and is clearly fond of horses.   The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West (Baen, 1988) besides being a book with one heck of a wild title is a great horse fantasy for adult readers.

4.

Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea (Disney-Hyperion, 2013)

The first of my picture book additions to the list.  This is a delightful new offering from Bob Shea this year.  Goat thinks he’s pretty cool until Unicorn shows up.  Unicorn has plenty of sparkle and magic and Goat grows more and more frustrated as Unicorn outshines him at every turn.  That is, until he actually talks to Unicorn and finds out that  there’s a lot of cool stuff he can do that Unicorn can’t .  It’s a great picture book that really takes the tropes of what unicorns are all about and runs with them, throwing sparkles and chuckles in every directions.

5.

Here There Be Unicorns by Jane Yolen, illustrated by David Wilgus (Houghton Mifflin, 1994)

For the unicorn lover, this collection of unicorn stories and poems by Jane Yolen exploring all the tropes and traditions of this horned horse.  One of several themed collections that Yolen has created over the years.  This one is sadly out of print, but hopefully fans of unicorns will find a copy!

6.

Nobody Rides the Unicorn by Adrian Mitchell, illustrated by Stephen Lambert (Arthur A. Levine, 2000)

A young orphan with a stunning voice, an evil king and a magical unicorn all come together in this story.  When the king uses young Zoe’s voice to lure and capture a unicorn, Zoe decides to help the creature escape. A beautiful little picture book with unusual illustrations.

7.

A Glory of Unicorns compiled and edited by Bruce Coville, illustrated by Alix Berensy

Twelve short stories by various authors that have to do with unicorns.  While I have not gotten ahold of this anthology meself, from the reviews I’ve read, Bruce Coville has curated a collection of tales that spans many different angles and types of unicorns which should appeal to readers uninterested in the regular cliche version of the creature.   Anthologies are a wonderful way to dip into new authors and/or new subjects and genres.

8.

The Unicorn and the Moon by Tomie dePaola (Ginn & Co., 1973)

I didn’t discover this little obscure picture book until I was searching for unicorn items.  When the moon gets stuck between two hills, a unicorn tries to free it with help from a griffon and an alchemist.  Tomie dePaola wrote about a unicorn.  Who knew?  I’ll have to see if I can find a copy of this book lurking about somewhere.

9.

Bad Unicorn by Platte F. Clark (Aladdin, 2013)

This is one of those books I had to include for the sheer role reversal of the creature.  Bad Unicorn is about an evil carnivorous beastie who is after our protagonist.  There frankly are not too many evil, people eating unicorns out there in fiction.  While this story may not be a favorite, it does in fact fit the list and can be truly said to be one of a kind!

10.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle (Dell Yearling, c1978)

You didn’t think I’d leave out my favorite fiction unicorn in Middle Grade stuff, did you? Gaudior is technically an alicorn (watch out for a new generation of kids that know the term–with Twilight Sparkle’s transformation into one on My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, they may have that term ready to hand for the future!)  Charles Wallace is taken on a wild adventure with a Time Traveling unicorn in order to save the Earth from imminent war and possible destruction.  You actually get to see quite a bit about Gaudior in this book, including the fact that these creatures hatch from eggs.  They’re not the only unicorns in the Time series, however. Many Waters (1985)  features virtual unicorns.  They exist only when they are believed in.

Extra Stuff:

My favorite unicorn novel, and one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time is The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle.  This is one unicorn story that I’ll never outgrow!

One of the best known songs about unicorns one that’s sung by The Irish Rovers. The lyrics of The Unicorn Song, are from none other than the late, great Shel Silverstein.

I did my first Flashback Friday post on The Last Unicorn, which you can find Here.

What are your favorite unicorn stories?  Can you spot any that I might have missed? Comments welcome!

Flashback Fridays: When the wine drinks itself, when the skull speaks, when the clock strikes the right time . . .

This is the first in what I hope to be a regular Friday posting.  A chance to look at authors, books, movies and such from yesteryear and highlight them here.  To kick it off, I thought I’d do so with one of my all time favorite movies.

Remember this?

I first encountered The Last Unicorn as a fragment.  During the absence of my PE teacher one day in first grade, the class was allowed to sit and watch the beginning of The Last Unicorn.  I’m still not sure why we were watching that particular movie, nor why we only watched a few minutes of it that day.  But the images of the unicorn, the Red Bull, the Magician . . . those stayed with me.  I finally saw the complete movie about five years later.  By that time I was in to a full-on love of all things unicorn.  I drew unicorns, I had unicorn decorations . . . I covered my walls with unicorn posters.

My general unicorn fever wore off long ago.  But The Last Unicorn remains.  I’ve read the original book by Peter Beagle (who also wrote the screenplay for the movie).  I’ve bought the soundtrack (and have it memorized) and the DVD.  And I’m delighted that this movie is back.

After so many years of obscurity, and lawsuits muddying the waters and literally paralyzing the movie, it’s finally being re-released in an unedited version that promises to be the best we’ve seen in years.  The kickoff  screening was held on April 20th, 2013 in San Francisco at The Cartoon Art Museum–just in time for Peter Beagle’s 74th  birthday celebration.

Check out this gorgeous lithograph produced for the event! The entire text of the book is printed on the poster!

Now the book on which this was based is not exactly a children’s book. So this might be breaking my rules of the blog a little.  I can’t remember anything particularly objectionable for a sophisticated tween reader, however.  (Someone let me know if they do).  But the movie is squarely marketed to children–even if it makes a startlingly mature children’s movie.

If you’ve never encountered it, this is not some twee story about my little unicorn and flowers and pretty princesses and twu wuv solving everything.   If anything, Beagle wrote his book to counter many of the standard conventions of fantasy–and much of that remains reflected in the movie.  The basic premise is that of  an immortal unicorn who discovers she is the last in the world, and goes in search of what happened to the rest of her kind.  On her journey through the perilous and grim world of man, she gains allies:  a mediocre magician named Schmendrick and Molly Grue–a disillusioned and worn out woman who has always wished to see a unicorn.  They follow rumors of a red bull to the stark and cold kingdom of  King Haggard.  But the closer they come to an answer, the more the unicorn is in peril from the same force that drove the other unicorns from the world.  The only way to save her relies on a wild and dangerous magic . . . but what price will our characters pay for that magic?

Whenever I think of unicorns–it’s always the Last Unicorn vision that comes to mind.

I won’t give away the ending.  Suffice to say, there is no wedding at Canterlot to wrap things up.   The themes of this movie include mortality and immortality,  regret and love,  happiness and misery.  It’s NOT a movie for little kids.  Quite frankly, I don’t know who decided to show us this when I was in 1st grade, but I will  admit I was too young for it.  I think eight years and up, with the caveat that adults should watch it first and decide.  This is no benign Disney movie and it’s a good idea that adults know up front what to expect.

This clip is one of my favorites.  It’ll give you an idea of the flavor of the movie:

And to close with, here are a few of my favorite lines from The Last Unicorn:

Unicorn: “I am no longer like the others, for no unicorn was ever born who could regret, but now I do. I regret.”

                                                                                             ****

The Cat: “When the wine drinks itself, when the skull speaks, when the clock strikes the right time, only then will you find the tunnel that leads to the Red Bull. There be a trick to it, of course.” 

Molly Grue: “Why won’t you help me? Why must you always speak in riddles?“

The Cat: “Because I be, what I be. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, mum, but I be a cat. And no cat anywhere, ever gave anyone a straight answer.”

                                                                                            ****

Schmendrick: “There are no happy endings, because nothing ends.“

If you are a fan, what are some of your favorite lines?  Please share!