31 in 31 Day 2: Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great

Everybody knows someone that just rubs them the wrong way.
We’re convinced that this person is this, that, or the other.
We just know we don’t like them.

This happened at one conference I attended.
I was in an intensive and one woman kept chiming in with comments.
I don’t mind comments when they further the discussion,
but when they just further you being able to talk about yourself,
that’s when I have a problem.

She kept talking about how she used this or that book in the classroom,
and relating them to things she was writing,
lots of, “and that’s why I write about ABC, because kids really like it and it relates to them.”
She always started with something on topic but quickly pulled it back to something about her.

I was frustrated but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
I decided I just didn’t like her.
Then I thought that was a bit crazy.
Why didn’t I like her? She DID have great things to say about books, so she obviously knew her stuff. I decided to give her a chance before I made up my mind.

During the break, I walked over to her and said,
“I really liked all the comments you made about the books; I can tell you really know your stuff. Do you want to exchange business cards?”
“I don’t really have one,” she said. She took mine, “I’ll just email you,” then said, “I sort of want to read this book right now, so….” And just started reading in front of me.

Ok, so maybe she wasn’t ready to be friendly at that moment.
I was proud of myself for at least giving her a chance before deciding that I didn’t like her. Sometimes the person turns out to be what you thought they were going to be like, but sometimes you’re pleasantly surprised to find out you were wrong.

This book features a goat who’s not too happy about a certain horned magical guy.

 

Title: Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great
Published by: Disney Hyperion Books, 2013
Written by: Bob Shea p.s. click that link, Bob Shea has the BEST author bios 🙂
Illustrated by: Bob Shea
Word Count: 385
Pages: 32

In one word: Perspective
In one sentence: Goat has HAD it with that good at everything Unicorn, and he will NEVER get along with him…but what’s this? He likes goat cheese? Well….
Favorite pages:

 

Likes:

Wowsa, the voice in this is great. I LOVE reading books that are all dialogue, and write quite a few up that way. In fact, the book I just sold is all in dialogue. It’s tough to keep the two voices sounding completely different but Bob Shea pulls it off!

You get to learn about the characters right away too by hearing them speak.

I love the illustrations. The colors are bright, the backgrounds simple, the facial expressions amazing. I dare anyone to read this book and NOT want to draw!

Everything looks so simple and makes you think, “I can draw something too!” Though you know it’s a lot of hard work to make it look that simple, right?

I love the contrast between Unicorn and Goat. I think it’s great that we hear about Unicorn through Goat, so we are right there in the way he feels about him.

Later, I love how they start talking to each other.

There aren’t a ton of words, which keeps the story moving along quickly, and the illustrations do some heavy lifting. I love how they compliment and expand on the dialogue of the characters.

Page turns! Marvelous page turns in this one!

 

Learns:

It’s all about perspective! Great is relative!

Letting characters talk about another character teaches us about both characters at the same time!

Simple lines and bright colors can make for really exciting illustrations.

Format and design can really help tell the story (ex: Goat and Unicorn have different fonts so you know who is saying what)

What did you read today?

Have you read this one?
See you tomorrow for another book!

KE