Several years ago, I remember a little girl asking me if we had any picture books about unicorns. At the time, we had barely any on our shelves or even in the catalog. Thankfully, now we have dozens of fun books about unicorns, and since kids frequently talk about unicorns during my preschool visits and storytimes, I thought I’d dedicate a storytime to them.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

A Unicorn Named Sparkle by Amy Young

Funny, cute story about a little girl who asks for a unicorn for her birthday. She has a very specific idea of what her unicorn will look like, but the one she gets is nothing like she imagined. He eats her clothes and even eats the underpants hanging on the clothes line, he smells funny, and he has fleas. Disappointed, she asks the unicorn man to take him back, but when he gets loaded on the truck, she realizes that she loves him after all.

First Day of Unicorn School by Jess Hernandez; illustrated by Mariano Epelbaum

I stumbled across this book right before Family Storytime, and fell in love with it on the spot. Milly is so excited to get accepted to Unicorn School. There’s only one problem: she isn’t a unicorn, but a donkey in a party hat. When she arrives at unicorn school, she is worried that the other unicorns will discover her secret, but soon finds that they are also all other types of animals in disguise. The kids enjoyed guessing what all of the different animals were and what their “unicorn horns” were made of (toilet plungers, traffic cones, etc.).

Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima

The kids really seemed to enjoy this adorable book about a unicorn who is raised by a pod of narwhals. He always assumes that he is a narwhal too, until he sees a unicorn on a hillside, and discovers his true identity. He is torn between his new unicorn friends and his narwhal ones, but is thrilled to find a way to bring them all together.

You Don’t Want a Unicorn by Ame Dyckman; illustrated by Liz Climo

When a little boy visits a wishing well and wishes for a unicorn, the narrator tries to warn him that unicorns poke holes in the ceiling, poop cupcakes everywhere, and scratch the furniture. Worst of all, they invite their friends over for a unicorn party, which makes an even bigger mess. Finally, the boy decides to wish them all away…and wish for a dragon instead.

Songs:

Sparkle, Sparkle, Unicorn

This uses the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, minus the “Up above the world so high” part in the middle. I asked the kids to suggest things that the unicorn might shoot from her horn (they came up with lightning, bees, flowers, and arrows) and also places they would like to fly (the playground, the zoo, Unicorn Land, and the pool), and we sang it several times using their ideas.

[C] Sparkle, Sparkle, [F] Uni[C]-corn,
[G7] She shoots [C] rainbows [G7] from her [C]horn.
I’ll fly to Hawaii [G7] in the [C] morn,
[G7] On my [C] magic [G7] uni[C]-corn.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

We sang this after reading First Day of Unicorn School (I realized too late that it would have been fun to make it a school instead of a farm). I asked the kids to suggest different animals and the sounds they made for each verse.

[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
And on that farm he [F] had a [C] cow,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
With an moo-moo here, and an moo-moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo-moo.
[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

The Waves on the Ocean

We sang this one after reading Not Quite Narwhal at Outdoor Musical Storytime, shaking the parachute, and singing it through three times, getting faster each time. It’s to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus:

The waves on the ocean go up and down,
Up and down, Up and down.
The waves on the ocean go up and down,
All day long!

Abracadabra

I wrote this song for a Magic Storytime theme years ago. We did it as our instrument play-along at the end, since it talks about getting a unicorn.

One day I found a magic wand (C G)
Out floating in a stream. (F C)
I waved it at my dinner plate, (C G)
And my beets became ice cream! (F G C)

I said, “Abracadabra! (C G)
Alakazaam! (F G)
Abracadabra!” (C G)
And my peas turned into jam. (F G C)

So then I took my magic wand
To school with me one day.
When Teacher said, “It’s time to work.”
I said, “I’d rather play.”

I said, “Abracadabra!
Hocus pocus!” too.
“Abracadabra!”
And my class was at the zoo!
Being taught by a kangaroo.

So if you find a magic wand
Out floating in a stream.
I hope that it will bring to you
Whatever you may dream.

You’ll say, “Abracadabra!
Presto chango!” too.
“Abracadabra!”
Many things will come to you.
Like a treehouse with a view,
And a unicorn or two,
And a chocolate mansion too.
May your every dream come true.

Stay & Play: Unicorn Collage

For this simple Stay & Play, I printed a unicorn coloring page from iHeartCraftyThings.com (they have a lot of options) on white cardstock. After storytime, I put out the coloring pages, markers, glue sticks, and a variety of fake gemstones, paper hearts, and other small decorations. Most of the kids spent a long time coloring and decorating their unicorns.

Do you have any favorite unicorn books or songs? Please share them in the comments below.