Donut: The Unicorn Who Wants to Fly

by Laura Gehl (Author) Andrea Zuill (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

Here's the hilarious story of Donut, a scruffy unicorn who can't fly-- but who keeps on trying! From the author of One Big Pair of Underwear and the illustrator of Sweety.

When Donut, a fluffy, scruffy unicorn with a colorful horn spots a bird in the air, she thinks, why can't I be up there, too? And so she jumps! off of a log and and even a trampoline. But thump! she falls down to the ground. After many attempts at flight (including wings fashioned out of sticks), Donut schemes with the other animals in the field, and finally comes up with an ingenious and imaginative solution. Finally, her perseverance pays off-- and Donut flies!

With a simple text and expressive art, here is a character-driven story from a popular author-illustrator duo that's laugh-out-loud funny, ingenious, and sure to appeal to all those unicorn fans out there--especially those who like their unicorns a little on the imperfect side.

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Publishers Weekly

Donut wants to fly, but actually doing so is another matter entirely: despite valiant efforts and a supportive forest friend group, the unicorn remains stubbornly earthbound. Gehl (The Hiking Viking) chronicles these attempts through brief rhyming snippets, as in a sequence in which Donut tries a set of wings that the animal friends fashion from leaves, twigs, and vines: "Donut sails!/ Donut flails!" leads, a page turn later, to "Donut wails!" Finally, the group hits on a winning idea: building a nestlike basket in which the birds can carry the unicorn into the sky (amid what looks like a hot air balloon festival). Given the minimal text, art by Zuill (Regina Is NOT a Little Dinosaur) does a lot of heavy lifting, literally and figuratively, and it excels on both counts: her elegant ink line, enhanced with warm digital color, articulates moments of slapstick, ingenuity, despair, and triumph. Donut is awkward, funny, and sweet, with a big pink nose and a long fringe, and the unicorn's lessons of persistence, kindness, and collaboration land with the lightness of a zephyr. Ages 4-8. Agent (for Gehl and Zuill): Erzsi Deak, Hen&ink. (Apr.)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Laura Gehl
Laura Gehl is the author of One Big Pair of Underwear, Cat Has a Plan, Goat Wants to Eat, Pig Makes Art, Dog Can Hide, Cat Sees Snow, Frog Can Hop, Snow Is..., You're the Sprinkles on My Ice Cream, and You're the Pumpkin in My Pie. She lives with her husband and their four kids in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Visit her online at LauraGehl.com.

Inspired by the Muppets, Quentin Blake, and the Flintstones, Fred Blunt has been a compulsive doodler since he was in hand-me-downs. He studied illustration at University of the West of England at Bristol, and has worked on all manner of projects, including illustrating for children's books and designing a series of animated interstitials for the BBC. Fred lives in Aberystwyth, Wales, with his wife, two children, and their retired greyhound.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593376256
Lexile Measure
25
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Random House Studio
Publication date
April 20, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV041010 - Juvenile Fiction | Transportation | Aviation
JUV002270 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Dragons, Unicorns & Mythical
Library of Congress categories
Friendship
Picture books
Stories in rhyme
Picture books for children
Flight
Unicorns

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