Unicornia: Learning to Fly
Ana Punset, illustrated by Diana Vicedo
Walker Books

Young Claudia, the narrator of this story, has recently moved to the city of Unicornia. Her first day at the Unicornia Academy of Magic proves much more challenging than she’d anticipated: her potion mixing goes wrong to the amusement of her classmates and then she’s too upset to participate in the Unicorn Flying class which displeases teacher, Mr Trot, especially with an assessment imminent.

Meanwhile, her parents have opened a shop selling magical food and it’s here that she encounters two familiar-looking girls who introduce themselves as her classmates, Pippa and Sara, Before long the three girls are laughing together and Claudia has two new friends. The next day’s spell mixing lesson goes much better thanks to Pippa and Sara and in Magical History Claudia makes another friend, a crow named Nibbles. However the Unicorn Flying class does not go well.

Pippa and Sara take Claudia around the city to get to know it better and one place they visit is a shelter for unicorns, another is the school stables after the staff have left, their intention being for Claudia and Chai (the unicorn Mr Trot had introduced to her) to get to know one another better. Can Pippa and Sara help Claudia form a bond with the unicorn and make sufficient progress to succeed in tomorrow’s flying exam?

Bursting with excitement, and with whimsical illustrations by Diana Vicedo at every turn of the page, this enchanting chapter book is perfect for new solo readers especially lovers of fantasy and magic stories.