James Minter's Blog: Writers do it in Public... - Posts Tagged "self-doubt"

Gloria and the Unicorn by Wanda Luthman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Gloria is a six-year-old child with a facial disfigurement. Her mother died giving birth to her, and Gloria blames herself. She sees the disfigurement as a daily reminder of what she did to her mother. Keeping this belief a secret, she is sombre to the point where she feels she is unlovable.

Living in a children’s home, the owner decides it better not to send Gloria to school because she is different and feels she would be bullied. Though Gloria works in the home, she cannot find a real purpose in life. Her despair deepens, and Gloria invokes an imaginary friend – a Unicorn – with magic powers.

Besides reframing what happened with her mother and her disfigurement, the Unicorn introduces Gloria to the power of reading and learning. She decides to go to school but the inevitable happens – she is bullied. But as the Unicorn says “fear is something we create and isn’t true … and when others aren’t very nice, it’s because they are full of fear.”

The Unicorn points out love is stronger than fear, sadness and hateful things, and loving oneself is the greatest gift of all. The message is don’t let fear win, and focus on love. Love is the most powerful emotion, and with it, you can eliminate fear and sadness and build your own self-belief.
Everyone is different and goes through periods of self-doubt when growing up. Issue books like this are crucial to helping children and parents cope with these times. The messages are important, and Ms Luthman makes them very accessible to the young reader in a gentle story. I fully support such writing, but I would like to see a summary aimed at parents on the various issues covered to enable them to have a better-informed conversation with their child. Definitely worth a read and I think it would be a hit with young girls. I give this book 4.5 stars.

The author supplied me with a copy for the purpose of a review.



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