This Is Not a Unicorn! - (This Is Not A...) by Barry Timms

Book Synopsis

Get ready for a magical and hilarious adventure about the most fantastic unicorn EVER!

This book is NOT about a unicorn! Well . . . OK, maybe it is! But THIS unicorn has a horn that can turn into the most incredible things - a magic wand, a helicopter, even a space rocket! Join the hilarious adventure and prepare to be amazed by your brilliant new friend.

With wonderful wordplay and a funny and sweet friendship at its heart, this is NOT a unicorn book to be missed!
This fabulously funny story has tons of appeal for all children - watch out for rockets, rainbows, helicopters, massive fish, ice cream sundaes, and magical adventures.

Review Quotes

If it's not a unicorn, what could it be?

In short, rhyming verse, a little gray bird addresses both readers and a young Black child. The bird introduces a special animal with a sparkling horn but warns that it shouldn't be confused with a unicorn. What follows is page after page of wordplay well supported by colorful and fanciful illustrations. The creature in question isn't a unicorn; it's a "spoon-icorn" (we see its horn become a spoon that helps it dole out ice cream). It's not a unicorn; it's "a make-a-secret-wish-icorn" (here, the horn becomes a wish-granting magic wand). It's not a unicorn; it's a "hover-in-the-air-icorn" (the horn becomes the whirring blade of a helicopter). Because this special animal is so clever, it needs a special name. Of course! It's not a unicorn; it's the "perfect-friend-for-you-nicorn," or a "you-nicorn" for short. Over the course of this imaginative story, the child and the not-a-unicorn visit a castle, backpack through a jungle, and rocket to the moon. This book will be a hit with children who love unicorns or wordplay; many readers will enjoy coming up with their own examples. Pair this book with a stuffed unicorn with a sparkling horn for the perfect gift. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Quirky fun that will have kids dreaming about their own unicorn pals and engaging in wordplay. (Picture book. 4-8)

--Kirkus

Sure this animal looks like a unicorn-horselike, one horn on its head, rainbow mane and tail-but as the rhyming narration explains to a small girl with brown skin and two black hair puffs, it's so much more. This animal is a snip-icorn, triple-pancake-flip-icorn, oar-icorn, open-up-the-door-icorn, make-your-garden-bloom-icorn, rocket-to-the-icorn, and much, much more. It has one very multitalented horn, but in the end it's a perfect-friend-for-you-nicorn or a you-nicorn for short. Adamson's illustrations take the text to the next level. Humorous, cartoon-style illustrations with the unnamed girl as an integral character show the you-nicorn's horn being used in all the ingenious ways the text describes. The joy of each whimsical situation is clear from the illustrations. A mix of spreads and panels add to the visual interest. VERDICT This silly play on words with delightful illustrations just keeps going and going and readers who get the joke will be happy to tag along.--Catherine Callegari, School Library Journal

Adamson's illustrations take the text to the next level. Humorous, cartoon-style illustrations with the unnamed girl as an integral character show the you-nicorn's horn being used in all the ingenious ways the text describes. The joy of each whimsical situation is clear from the illustrations... This silly play on words with delightful illustrations just keeps going and going and readers who get the joke will be happy to tag along.--School Library Journal

"Quirky fun that will have kids dreaming about their own unicorn pals and engaging in wordplay."--Kirkus

About the Author

Barry Timms (Author)
Barry grew up in Cornwall. He spent his early years mending pop-up books brought home from the library by his mum. Vast swathes of Sellotape were involved.

In the late 90s, Barry moved to London to study Fine Art at Central Saint Martins. By a twist of fate, he later secured an editorial job at Walker Books. He's been editing children's books ever since.

More recently, Barry has been writing picture books of his own. He loves the knotty puzzle of structuring a story over so few pages. Even better is the rush of excitement when a solution lands in the shower, or while walking the streets of South London. That's a feeling worth its weight in gold.

Ged Adamson (Illustrator)
Ged was born in Liverpool and as a child he was obsessed with drawing, listening to music and making up tunes.

In 2016, his story about a short-sighted dog, Douglas You Need Glasses! received rave reviews and became his breakthrough picture book.

Ged has since written and illustrated many books including Shark Dog! and A Fox Found a Box.

He lives in London with his partner Helen and their son Rex.