Do You Believe in Unicorns?

by Bethanie Deeney Murguia, Bethanie Deeney Murguia (Illustrator)

Overview

Is believing in magic the key to seeing a unicorn? If you keep your eyes open to wonder, the possibilities are endless.

Is that a horse wearing a hat? It’s definitely not a unicorn in disguise — that would be ridiculous, right? It’s probably just a horse that’s having a bad hair day. Or trying to keep the sun out of its eyes. Or perhaps this horse just really likes hats! If you follow it long enough, maybe it will take off its hat and you’ll finally know for sure. Or will you? It’s all a matter of perspective in this cheerful, cheeky story about seeing magic in the everyday.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763694685
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Bethanie Deeney Murguia is the author-illustrator of several picture books, including I Feel Five!, The Best Parts of Christmas, and The Too-Scary Story.

Editorial Reviews

08/13/2018
“Hey, look—it’s a horse in a hat,” opens this irreverent picture book from Murguia (I Feel Five!). But what begins as a casual observation turns quickly into a guessing game, as the narrator invites readers to wonder what that hat might be hiding—perhaps a unicorn horn? As the horse trots off on a journey through various landscapes, the narrator poses plausible reasons for the smart red chapeau: it’s hiding messy hair; it’s providing a nice sun shade or rain cover. But doubt creeps in: wouldn’t the horse take off its hat when it sits down to tea? Maybe there is something to hide after all. When the hat comes off, a parade of clever optical tricks position the horse in front of hornlike grasses, slender towers, and sharp mountain peaks, keeping readers wondering what creature they’re looking at. With its minimal text and wry visual jokes, this playful offering offers good fun. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

As coy as Jon Klassen, Murguia is a master of subtlety...Murguia's muted pen-and-ink-and-watercolor illustrations, presented almost entirely on double-page spreads, create a lush cartoon world. Careful readers might notice a final hint in the form of a lizard that just might be a dragon—a brilliant punctuation mark to this open-ended story. Spellbinding read-aloud gold.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The narrator’s tongue-in-cheek obliviousness slides easily into an affirmation of the power of imagination...The musing text, with its questions posed to the audience, will be a hit at storytime or during a lapsit, and the invitation to believe the impossible makes this a wonderful segue into encouraging kids to make up their own fantasy stories.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

“Hey, look—it’s a horse in a hat,” opens this irreverent picture book from Murguia (I Feel Five!)...With its minimal text and wry visual jokes, this playful offering offers good fun.
—Publishers Weekly

This charmer of a picture book makes a strong case for the existence of unicorns by juxtaposing a skeptical narrator with the action of the story itself...A fun take on belief and magic.
—Booklist Online

From the Publisher

★ 2018-06-25
Is it a unicorn or a horse in a hat? It's up to readers to decide! A matter-of-fact narrator presents all the reasons why a "horse in a hat" is really just that. It couldn't possibly be a unicorn. Or could it? As the "horse" trots along, readers will notice other "horses" in the scenery, their heads—and, more importantly, what could possibly be their horns—obfuscated by some detail (a rock, a tree, etc.). Readers may side with the narrator, but soon, the visual evidence seems to contradict the verbal. Even the narrator waffles in their certainty. When a page turn reveals abandoned "horse" hats, the mystery is almost solved. Or is it? Though "horns" clearly crown the "horses' " heads in subsequent spreads, they could also be a part of the background (a spire, blades of grass, etc.). The final conclusion in the debate ultimately rests on the readers' own deductive reasoning. As coy as Jon Klassen, Murguia is a master of subtlety. The interplay between narration and illustration proves the unreliability of the senses, sharing just enough to keep the magic (and doubt) alive. Murguia's muted pen-and-ink-and-watercolor illustrations, presented almost entirely on double-page spreads, create a lush cartoon world. Careful readers might notice a final hint in the form of a lizard that just might be a dragon—a brilliant punctuation mark to this open-ended story. Spellbinding read-aloud gold. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews