Where Have the Unicorns Gone?

"Where have the unicorns gone? / They have left their haven of greening bowers, / Of dapple-down trees and yellow-eyed flowers, / Their dimity dells and golding glades / Where shadows shift in silver shades." So begins this lovely picture book meditation on the unicorns and where they have gone from author Jane Yolen and illustrator Ruth Sanderson. Fleeing from the conflict, noise and industrial pollution of the human world, these beautiful creatures seek water again and again, eventually driven to their last refuge, in the sea...

One of a number of picture book collaborations between Yolen and Sanderson, Where Have the Unicorns Gone? pairs a wonderfully worded, emotionally involving poem with beautiful oil paintings. There is a sense of show more melancholy to the narrative here, as the unicorns are driven away by human activity, but also a sense of enchantment and rightness. After all, if unicorns were common, and easily found, they would not be so magical to us. Further, as Yolen observes in her brief author's note, there is a natural affinity between unicorns and water, something highlighted in many traditional tales about them, so the eventual answer to the question posed in the title makes perfect sense. Visually speaking, I thought the contrast between the unicorns and their peaceful activities and natural habitats on the one hand, and the stormy activity of human beings on the other, was quite striking. That said, my favorite images were the ones of the unicorns before their flight: in their flowery dells, or pristine pools. Recommended to young unicorn lovers, and to anyone who has wondered where unicorns (or enchantments) have gone. show less

Long ago unicorns lived in a haven of sun-dappled glades and flower-filled dells. But as civilization spread over the ages -- with its fierce knights, its chugging trains, its thick smogs -- unicorns had to find a new sanctuary. But where?

This book had a nice rhythm to the text. The more sophisticated vocabulary might be tricky for some readers, but it added to the sense of unicorns being creatures from a long time ago. I also liked how some of the text worked similar to an onomatopoeia. The illustrations were great- I liked how the unicorns slowly lost their defined shapes as they got closer to the sea.

This is a fictional, fantasy book. The artwork are beautiful oil painted pictures. All the pictures are based in nature. The content is about the author asking where have all the unicorns gone, then traveling to all the places they could have gone, and finally they can see the unicorns in the ocean. The reading level is probably third grade because even though the book is not very long, some of the words are unfamiliar and challenging. The curricular connections are: unicorns, nature, and mystery.

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