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Zoe is a poor, orphaned beggar girl living on the outskirts of the kingdom of Joppardy. She is also the quietest, gentlest girl in the land, which is exactly what the king is looking for. He needs the horn of a unicorn, and according to the king's adviser Doctor Slythe, only sweet young girls can trap the fierce and elusive beasts. The king tricks Zoe into entering the deep forest with him an... More

Zoe is a poor, orphaned beggar girl living on the outskirts of the kingdom of Joppardy. She is also the quietest, gentlest girl in the land, which is exactly what the king is looking for. He needs the horn of a unicorn, and according to the king's adviser Doctor Slythe, only sweet young girls can trap the fierce and elusive beasts. The king tricks Zoe into entering the deep forest with him and the doctor, and luring a unicorn with her innocent songs ("His coat is like snowflakes/ woven with silk./ When he goes galloping/ He flows like milk"). Just as a unicorn puts his head in her lap to sleep, hundreds of men attack and trap the beautiful animal. Zoe, furious at the deception, sets the unicorn free, and the "little nobody" is banished from the kingdom. With nowhere else to turn, she wanders off to find her unicorn:

Zoe said, "Me, I'm nobody."
"Climb on my back, kind Nobody," said the unicorn with his eyes. "For Nobody rides the unicorn."

Zoe may have broken the laws of the kingdom, but she is abiding the laws of her conscience. Ultimately, what reader can deny that she has done the right thing? Poet Adrian Mitchell's lyrical text about a girl who, in following her heart, befriends a unicorn, meshes perfectly with the dark, velvety, mystical illustrations by Stephen Lambert. These are the kinds of pictures that stay with a reader for a lifetime. For every fan of myth and strong female leads, this story is just right. (Ages 6 to 9)

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