'The Lady and the Unicorn' by Beatrice Fontanel with illustrations by Vanessa Hie is a picture book that makes up a story based on the famous Unicorn Tapestries.

With illustrations inspired by the Unicorn Tapestries, we get a story of men hunting, fairies and a unicorn. The men leave a mess in their wake in their search for the unicorn. The unicorn is hotly pursued and close to getting caught when it is rescued by a lady.

There is an afterword that talks about the tapestries and shows details in them that the book uses. The story is magical as are the beautiful illustrations.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Princeton Architectural Press and NetGalley. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I very rarely give five stars to picture books but this one is definitely worth it. It is a picture book fantasy inspired by the unicorn tapestries of the 1400s. This book tells the story of a mighty unicorn as it flees from the humans who are chasing it. The ending is quite surprising and the information about the tapestries at the end is informational and well added. While a little long, this picture book would be well suited to older children, and adults alike.

My thanks to Princeton Architectural Press for an advance review copy via NetGalley of ‘The Lady and the Unicorn’ by Béatrice Fontanel and Illustrated by Vanessa Hié in exchange for an honest review.

It was originally published in France in 2020 and is intended for readers aged 8-12.

This beautifully illustrated children’s book tells the story of a unicorn that outwits a lord and his huntsmen. The unicorn finds his way into a secret garden where a lady with magical powers has created a sanctuary.

This book was inspired by two sets of Unicorn Tapestries created in the late Middle Ages. These works of art have fascinated art lovers down through the centuries. Following the story, four of the tapestries are reproduced and their symbolism explored. Flowers and vegetation feature strongly in the style of the tapestries, known as mille-fleur.

Vanessa Hié’s illustrations referenced the original style of the tapestries utilising a delicate colour palette.

This is the kind of picture book that is bound to appeal not only to young readers but to adults interested in unicorns and art history.

With Children's picture books I feel there is 3 main components to look at; Illustrations, Story and message. My reviews for children's books start with my overall views and then are divided into those three sections.

1) Story
The first thing I noted was that this book was a translation. I had an inkling it might be based on the authors and illustrators names and as such I took a look at the beginning of the books to confirm. When works are translated I feel this can play a part as a badly translated work can sometimes influence the storytelling. In this case I don't think it did too much. Some places lacked a bit of flow (I assume in French the wording would fit a bit better together) but overall it still evoked the imagery and whimsical feel I think was intended for this story.

One quick thing I am a bit unsure of for a child audience is some of the wording choices. Words like "riotous" I feel would be hard for children to fully grasp? I don't think it would necessarily impact kids from enjoying it but it might stop them from fully grasping some elements of the story? Maybe this was intentional in order to make it also engaging to the parents reading it?

The other thing I was unsure of was the ending, it seemed a bit abrupt to me? Again a child would likely not care about "insta love" as the romance reader community would call it but for me it was a bit jarring. The over all messaging (which I will cover below) seemed so different then the sudden "they fell in love" situation at the end. I won't say more as to not spoil the story (especially since it's an ARC) but it was a bit jarring to me. Even after reading the "about the painting" section at the end (which I LOVED by the way) I still couldn't see a direct reason for that ending or the sudden love connection. I feel like it could have ended in a more meaningful way.

With those downsides out of the way it was a very cute story! I liked how the authors based it so closely to the original tapestries and that they included that ending section which really tied the story together. I also love how they used symbolism to create their story. This is something I can see that would make this book good for cross over appeal for older children. Maybe even used in classrooms as part of a lesson plan introducing kids to medieval ages or what symbolism is. One of my favorite elements included was the flower symbolism they included, mostly because I've always found the language of flowers and how people used to exchange them as message fascinating.

So overall, great engaging story which I think would make the kids imagination work and keep them interested throughout. Also some elements which will keep adults interested and great opportunities for discussions with kids about the story and content material.

2) Illustrations
These were so well made! 5 out of 5 stars. The illustrator had a perfect blend of keeping a similar style to medival-esk paintings but also making it engaging for younger audiences of today. I also loved the details in the illustrations and how sometimes when you took a moment to look you noticed something which was invisible at first glance.

I also liked the used of the background for the text. Specifically when the text background first changed from white to black right when a "high intensity" moment happened. I like seeing illustrations work with the text instead of being a separate entity.

Lastly I loved the movement of the illustrations how they were two dimensional but used the page in such a way and used such poses that it drew the eye on important things and have the feeling of movement.

3) Message

I liked how the messaging was layered. There was the main story of the unicorn but also underlining tones of greed, the environment, respecting nature, how our actions as humans impact those around us, and being kind to others.

For the messaging it was a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I liked the messages and I think they are important ones but I am not sure the execution of them was all it could be.

Overall great book, great story, and I loved how they based it off real historical tapestries. Some elements while great didn't completely blow me away hence the 4 star rating but I would recommend this book! It was really fun and quite enjoyable!

I've always wondered about this tapestry and this story, so this was great to read! Loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic medieval tale about a unicorn on the run(plus a curse). Loved the illustrations( honestly one of my favorite parts)

Thank you to the Princeton Architectural Press and NetGalley for the advanced electronic copy of this beautiful book. Spellbinding illustrations and a timeless unicorn story come together in this beautiful book I very much enjoyed. The art and the tapestries highlighted at the end of the book are absolutely spectacular and allow the text to shine. Can’t wait to share this lovely book with the children in my life.

The Lady and the Unicorn is a story inspired by paintings of unicorn and some consist of kind lady. Though this is the fruit of the author's imagination, it is a good story nevertheless. With the illustrator trying to create images like the ones in tapestry, and explanations on some of the tapestries that inspired the author, this creates a great combination of a book.

The Lady and the Unicorn combines gorgeous illustrations and unique storytelling to create a breathtaking story easy to fall in love with.

As someone who holds an art history degree and has a career in designing tapestry, I was absolutely elated to discover The Lady and The Unicorn by Béatrice Fontanel on NetGalley!

I loved the storyline and attention to human impact on nature, ecological disruption and pollution in their path. Fast paced, action packed narrative following destructive hunters on the pursuit of a magical unicorn. An adventurous tale with dark undertones so a caregiver may consider reading it through before reading to or gifting to a child.

The only thing that I would point out is that the “salamander” was depicted as a bearded dragon. They exist in very different ecosystems, so I was kind of thrown off by that little detail.

The ending is sweet and unexpected and I love the nod to millefleur.

The educational elements at the end are fantastic. I love how the author and illustrator broke down each piece to show where inspiration resonated with historical pieces.

This is a beautifully illustrated fairy tale that’s perfect for a unicorn lover. This one has a high word count and would be best appreciated by older audiences.

The illustrations in this beautiful book are gorgeous! I couldn't believe how beautiful they were, and I ended up staring at them for a long time. I enjoyed learning about tapestries, and I'm sure adults will also fall in love with this book.

A book I very much enjoyed, but one that might not seem quite trendy enough to win a huge audience. It has to serve two purposes, and does them both quite well – first, entertain with its timeless tale of a unicorn hounded by some nasty Lord-of-the-Manor types, and second, introduce to the young some half-a-millennium old tapestries that famously feature a unicorn being hunted, and almost domesticated. The art side of things is no throwaway element at the end, for it gives us three full-page images and talks about their symbolism and the mysteries of who even paid for their creation. But the bulk is the story, and here blank sections of the spreads allow for the short paragraphs to be very legible, while the art really carries the same feel as the tapestries – aged yet fresh, classical yet easily-understood, static yet full of dynamism. It's a book worthy of much adulation, but I can't let it go without admitting some young readers will feel it a bit dry and removed. My wish would be that they won't, but it remains my prediction.

This book is a book about a unicorn trying to escape an evil lord and hunters.

I read this book with my daughter and it is definitely a simple short book. What we like about this book the most was the illustrations. The pictures are vibrant and really bring the characters and scenery to life. Each page is its own piece of art!

As far as the overall story, we were left wondering about what happened to the hunters and would have liked to know more about some of the other magical creatures.

3 stars for the plot since it was so simple, but 4 overall because the pictures were amazing.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a digital copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.