First, let’s be clear that this is not a story. It’s just snippets of advice provided in a lyrical way with cute illustrations. Like one of those little tiny self help books people buy at the checkout that have tidbits of advice.
My immediate reaction is ‘ugh’. I find this sort of cheap throw-away content to be useless frankly. For me it’s pretentious and never helpful.

However, if you have a child that might gleam something from a book like this then it’s very cute. I could see maybe doing a page a day, or two a day, with your child. Maybe chat about it after and what it might mean or how it might relate for them. There might be an application here with adult interaction. As a general self-help book for kids; yes it’s cute but that’s not enough.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Cute book for kids and parents to read. Give to kids who like humor, family, and unicorn books. Similar to Fortunately the Milk and All My Friends are Dead.

"My Dearest Daughter, you were born with special, magical abilities."

This book consists of a life lesson, accompanied by a black & white drawing depicting a magical creature or object. Unfortunately, this format quickly becomes tedious, and the book is overly long.

I think there's some real promise here, however, along with some beautiful sentiments, and I'd love to see it edited down to form a cohesive story about a young girl's journey through worlds both fantastical, AND real.

I loved the idea of this book, but it just didn't quite deliver in a way that makes me want to order the book for my library or recommend it to others. The biggest problem for me was consistency. Some pages were overly specific, some pages were woefully vague, some pages were imaginative and detailed but not with the information we need to feel a vested interest in the character/setting/etc, It was just a little all over the place. I feel like the level of imagination and fantasy is begging for fully explored and written stories - I want to know more about some of the creatures and characters that were included in this book but had no context so they were forgettable after turning the page. The simple line drawings were fun and creative, but I felt that sometimes the illustrations didn't match the writing, and the black and white simplistic style may not hold kids' attention. I did really like a few of the pages with their underlying messages, and I can imagine making some of those pages jumping off points for morning discussions in a classroom. But I don't feel this would work well as a read-aloud if you're just wanting to read a book from cover to cover in one sitting.

Thanks to Net Galley and Sourcebook Kids for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book a fictitious s magic advice book for a fantasy world , each passage reads more like a poem, than a story. The drawing were whimsical, and might appeal more to grownup than children.

I received an electronic ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Kids through NetGalley.
I love the layers included in this book. Readers can read it as a fun and funny book of advice about magical creatures and objects. Drilling deeper offers readers plenty of life lessons to think about. Corchin blends the two levels together and offers thoughts wrapped in love for their daughters and the other daughters and sons who find the magic in this book.

What a cute story from mother to daughter. It felt too individualized though. I felt like I was missing key conversations. Loves the format and illustrations but not one that I fell in love with. It might work well as a graduation gift.

A book that's actually quite peculiar, but handled in a clever enough way. Each spread is a short example of fantasy life advice, and the illustration for it – so this is a very quickly-browsed volume indeed. The life lessons as I say are all derived from some kind of fantasy existence, so mention wizards, unicorns, magical musical instruments and a whole host of other things. Some are just there, but while some stronger ones might touch a nerve some are strong enough to hang a novel from – witness the ultra-powerful magician who knows their power can come from sitting and listening and learning, the vial that gives all you would ever want from life – and that is guaranteed to take seventy years in the finding, and so on. In the most head-spinning kind of roundabout way we're told to honour our pledges, not to hog the wish-giving Orb, how to leave the Sorrow Pond, and to take what comes to us head-on, lest the onyx gem gets too much fear to feed on.

In a strange way this was quite compelling. I will never find it in myself to rate such simple, low-word-count gift books too highly, and I did take umbrage at the slackness and simplicity of the line drawings here now and again, so this seems not to be a hugely positive feedback on the title. But – at least until I'm corrected in my belief that you'll never find a book doing the same thing better – I cannot dissuade anyone from having a gander. Perhaps, then, three and a half stars.

If You Find a Unicorn, It Is Not Yours to Keep is a sweet book, great for a gift or to read one page a day with the class and discuss. Best to be read in bite-sized chunks, not all the way through at once, I read parts of it with my 8-year old, and they liked it, but it didn't hold attention for very long.

If you like books with profound messages, then you’ve found your next BIG read! Except that D.J. Corchin’s creation seems far more personal, as if he is reading his book next to you. Perhaps that’s the impact of his heartwarming opening note to his daughter – my favourite line from the letter: “I know I cannot prevent all the mistakes you will make, but I can help to ensure you make new ones. My mistakes are my gift to you…”

Each page is a tasteful mélange of fantasy and life lessons, coupled with illustrations of mythical or magical creatures. Similar to “A Thousand No’s” and “Do You Speak Fish?”, this too looks simple on the surface but intensely philosophical as you re-read the lines. This is definitely a copy to be cherished for many years to come – great for ages 9 to 90…

This is a slightly unusual book about fantastical ideas and what to do when you encounter them, for example casting good spells and how to be a good wizard. I'm not entirely sure who the intended audience is for this book, I'm guessing middle grade students in the 7-11 age range, but I'm not sure that they would be overly captivated by this book. The illustrations are quite simple and the advice is short and obviously a bit unusual. Fantasy is definitely not my favourite genre so that could be clouding my opinion of this book, but I can't really identify examples of students I could see really enjoy this book. I'm not sure that I would purchase a copy for my grade 3 classroom library. I don't think it is a bad book, I'm just not sure how many students would really want to read it and don't see it being one of those books kids go back to again and again. Definitely an interesting concept, but not quite the right book for my classroom. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to check out an ARC of this book!

This book was alright. I enjoyed most of the little poems on each page gave, they were fun and felt like a cute lesson of sort. But I feel like this book is better read one page per day as a lesson per day vs reading it as a story. I wish the illustrations could have been in color, but also would not be opposed to my child coloring the pages. Could be fun for a child.