Review by Woodrow Phoenix

“Pss pss pss,” says 9-year-old Phoebe Howell in a quiet voice while riding on the back of her magical companion, a unicorn called Marigold Heavenly Nostrils. “What?” says Marigold. “I said, pss pss pss,” Phoebe replies, talking closely into her ear. “Speak normally please,” Marigold says. “Fine. But so much for my career as a ‘Unicorn Whisperer’,” says Phoebe. “I like you just fine as a unicorn-normal-voice-talker,” says Marigold.

The tenth volume collecting Dana Simpson’s newspaper strip Phoebe and Her Unicorn features another six months of daily happenings with the two best friends. This generally means a fairly constant  stream of information about what unicorns, think, like, want and do, often with examples. These can become predictable as the revelations tend to fall into categories, but the target audience may not be as good at spotting the patterns as the adults buying books for them.

Dana Simpson’s blend of conversations, little observational moments and jokes are delivered with her just-cute-enough drawings which are ideal for young readers to copy into their rainbow-stickered sketchbooks. Nothing is too strange, bizarre or challenging so this series is ideal for younger readers, although in keeping with the grandly old-timey style we associate with mystical beings Marigold the unicorn has a fancy vocabulary, sprinkled with long words. Some incentive for kids to look things up is probably another selling point, and the glossary provides a little educational content alongside the jokes. Phoebe and Marigold’s daily life continues to unfold in much the same way in the next collection, Camping with Unicorns. It’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen in that book.