Sugarlump and the Unicorn

Product Information

I’ve written a song to go with the book and it’s now available on Spotify and other streaming platforms. When Sam Sly invites the Singing Mermaid to join the circus, she is excited by the promise of fame and fortune.

She lives in Glasgow and spends a lot of time on stage performing her brilliant sell-out singalong shows! which generated quite some negative feedbacks and reviews about this book, although my kids have never commented about this line, and neither do I think the line would have caused any negative thoughts in their little brains.

The only reason I give this a 4 star rather than 5, was the line along the lines of “I wish I hadn’t been born”, as I felt this was a little sad/unnecessary, so didn’t read that to my children. Sugarlump is a rocking horse who lives happily in the children's bedroom, rocking to and fro - but when the children are out at school all day, sometimes he wishes he could go out into the wide world and trot around. And once Sugarlump finds out that when, with a flash of her eyes and a toss of her mane, a unicorn appears and grants her a wish, she jumps at the opportunity of doing something else. Now, Sugarlump is a farm horse out in the fields - but he soon finds his new life hard work, and wishes to be free of his load so he can gallop.

Published in 2013, 'Sugarlump and the Unicorn' is a magical tale of a rocking horse transformed into a real horse by a unicorn, all told in a charming rhyming style with excellent illustrations. That said, I'm sure there are kids out there who need to realize that they have worth and purpose too. Children should enjoy it - I've certainly had the chance to read it to a 5-year-old, and she loved it. Sugarlump wished that he could be out in the big wide world, so the unicorn “pawed the ground and tossed her mane”, and “flashes her eyes of blue”; and upon turning around seven times, Sugarlump becomes a farmer’s horse. This book has a poetic style with rhyming and repeated phrases, engaging the children with the story.

Young readers will love the bright, rainbow-coloured page spreads, packed with details to explore -and will particularly enjoy spotting characters that may be familiar to them from previous Donaldson and Monks books, such as the Singing Mermaid who appears in the circus scenes. If I were the unicorn, I probably would turn Sugarlump into a wild feee Mongolian horse that gallops without restraint. The clever unicorn has another idea, but you will have to read the book to find out what it is and discover whether Sugarlump is ever satisfied with his life! When Sugarlump the rocking horse longs to see the world, a magical unicorn with a silver horn and sparkling blue eyes grants his wish and turns him into a real horse.