Unicorn Seekers, the Map of Lost Unicorns

This enchanting story begins with an extract from the diary of Araminta Lang, Rome, in May 1918, in which we learn of the birth of the first unicorns. It is well illustrated throughout with black and white drawings of the characters and events. Readers are then introduced to Elodie Lightfoot a feisty, roller-skating expert of a girl who roams freely around Crystal Palace Park in London, opposite the flats in which her family lives. Her father runs a vegan coffee van and Elodie has grown up helping him prep and cook croissant and cakes at dawn each morning before school. A gang of four friends frequent the park, and but it is Elodie who first spots something other worldly. Is it a horse? Is it a horn on its head? Here begins the mystery. Slowly, Elodie befriends the unicorn, describing its horn as “transparent as rain yet strangely luminous, it looks as if it could cut through the fabric of the world.” But there is danger, for the baddy, Camille de Scelerat, a high fashion French woman, is after capturing the unicorn for herself, to harness its magical powers. Elodie’s Dad packs up the coffee van with the unicorn safely within, and with Elodie and BFF Marnie-Mae heads off pronto for safety…first to Edinburgh in Scotland. Their adventures then take them to Holland, to Barcelona and then Prague, all the time with Madame Baddy on their heels. It is an exciting, gripping mystery, with help from a couple of brothers assisting in the thrilling finale; one of these has featured throughout, an autistic boy, of great use in their adventures for his close connection with animals. The author, Cerrie Burnell, is remembered for her stirling work on CBeebies, breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes and overcoming discrimination. She is currently BBC’s ambassador for disability. Great fun for readers who love a bit of magic and have seen a unicorn…maybe.