Kevin the Unicorn: Why Can't We Be Bestie-corns?

by Jessika von Innerebner, Jessika von Innerebner (Illustrator)

Overview

Kevin the Unicorn learns that you can't force a friendship in this companion to Kevin The Unicorn: It's Not All Rainbows

When a new unicorn moves in next door, Kevin is certain he's about to make a new magically awesome best friend. After all, everyone loves unicorns (especially other unicorns)! But it turns out Eric loves scary movies (eek!) and clam juice (blech!) and he doesn't like camping or skateboarding or any of the activities Kevin adores. In fact, apart from his sparkly mane and radiant horn, Eric doesn't have all that much in common with Kevin. Could it be that Eric and Kevin aren't destined to be the best of buds?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984814807
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jessika von Innerebner is a self-taught artist who landed her first illustration job at seventeen and has been coloring her way through studios like Disney and Atomic Cartoons ever since. Jess is the illustrator of several picture books and chapter books and is the creator of the Kevin the Unicorn series. She and her illustrator husband live in Canada.

Editorial Reviews

2020-06-16
Unicorns Kevin and Eric decide not to be B(U)FFs.

In this worthy follow-up to the excellent It’s Not All Rainbows (2019), Kevin is excited when he finds out that a new unicorn is moving in next door. Kevin is a “magical friend-making machine,” and he just knows that this unicorn will be a perfect best friend. Kevin imagines all kinds of adventures with his new bestie, with a featureless cardboard-corn standing in for a real unicorn, and when Eric meets Kevin, he’s equally enthusiastic about immediately cementing their bond. But tension arises when Kevin finds out that Eric prefers clam juice to glitter soda and when Eric discovers that his new “BEST best friend” doesn’t like camping. After a few other attempts, the two unicorns realize that not everyone is destined to be best friends, so “instead of trying to force a friendship, Eric and Kevin decided just to be friendly.” As its predecessor did, this chipper story uses bright, goofy, cotton-candy–toned art with tons of kid appeal to get to a complex, important, and too-little-seen message. It’s slightly misleading to suggest that emotional connections need to rely on shared activities, but for children struggling to figure out how to appropriately navigate relationships—or kids who just want a fun story with raucous pictures—this will be a hit. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 19% of actual size.)

Better than a bottle of glitter soda. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews