Princess Betony and the Unicorn (Pamela Freeman, illus by Tamsin Ainslie, Walker Books)

This stand-alone first chapter book from prolific author Pamela Freeman opens with a whip-cracking governess and a sprightly princess who isn’t allowed to do x, y and z. When the queen (who is really a dryad, or tree spirit) uses wild magic to decorate her room with green foliage, the royal advisors disapprove. The queen runs off into the dark forest and Princess Betony, mistakenly thinking her mother is leaving for good, follows her. What comes next is a surreal and dazzling adventure starring more dryads, a vicious fox and a very special unicorn. Can Betony unlock the secrets of the forest and find her mother? Though the story opens with an obvious set-up, it soon turns into a unique and intriguing tale with emotional highs and lows, a dash of morality and enough magic to carry the young reader away. Tamsin Ainslie’s drawings are cute, too.

Hannah Francis is a bookseller at the Younger Sun Bookshop in Yarraville

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Category: Reviews