Layla and Dancer

Unicorn Academy: Where Magic Happens #5

by Julie Sykes, Lucy Truman (Illustrator)

Imagine a school where you meet your own unicorn and have amazing adventures together! That’s what happens for the girls at Unicorn Academy on beautiful Unicorn Island.

Layla can’t believe how lucky she is to be at Unicorn Academy! She adores her lively unicorn, Dancer, though she’s too nervous to go jumping and riding fast like their friends.

When the trees around Sparkle Lake start dying, Layla must find her courage and take Dancer on a thrilling adventure to find the cure!

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Unicorns, Fantasy

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Welcome to my website. Come on in and have a look around. You can find out about my books and also about me.

Name:
Julie Sykes

Birthday:
My birthday month is August

Place of birth:
Kingston upon Thames

Places I’ve lived:
My family moved to Australia just after I was born but returned to England in time for me to start school. I was educated in Surrey and lived there until I got married. I now live in the south of England with my husband and our three children. We used to live on a fish farm, which we shared with 300,000 rainbow trout. We share our current home with a few goldfish and a white wolf cunningly disguised as a dog.

Jobs:
I’ve worked in a kennels, shops, pubs and on a mushroom farm. My first full-time job was as a laboratory technician and after that a teacher. I’m now a full time writer.

First book published:
There were two - This and That and I Don’t Want To Go To Bed!

Favourite Things:
Family, friends, Spring (the season not the bouncy sort although bouncing is good, too), cappuccino, Danish pastries, Cornwall, the sea, books, animals, chocolate.

Worst Things:
Litter, vandals, cleaning the house, having NOTHING to read.

Hobbies:
Reading, walking, cooking, hanging out in cafés.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment in the series has been one of my favorites so far. While it continues the familiar theme of kids embarking on risky adventures without the knowledge of adults, this story brings a fresh twist to the group dynamic.

Layla takes a stand against her friends when she believes they’re being unfair to someone else. The internal conflict she experiences adds depth to her character. My daughter immediately noticed this shift and was thrilled to see Layla standing up for what’s right, even when it meant going against her friends.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This time quiet and timid Layla and her supportive unicorn get to find themselves. Layla's friends are adventurous and love doing exciting things, but Layla is oftentimes fearful and less inclined to join them happily. Layla's friends are quick to apply their biases to people they don't think fondly of, but Layla oftentimes sees through those and is able to recognize when someone has been misjudged. Her arc naturally then is the development of her ability to be brave when she needs to, with the support of her unicorn Dancer AND to gain the courage to speak up and challenge what her friends are saying about someone. Both of these are relatable and important challenges for many young kids to overcome.

The "thing going wrong" in this installment is that some nasty bugs have shown up on the trees around the lake, causing them to drop their leaves and start clogging the water of Sparkle Lake. The solution involves needing to travel to an active volcano to collect something there to get rid of the bugs. The adventure is treacherous and Layla's friends are not there to accompany her so her and Dancer adventure there on their own (once again defying the word of their teacher saying to not endanger themselves). This part of the adventure was a bit anxiety inducing for my 4.5 year old daughter who has a bit of a fear/morbid curiosity in active volcanoes - so she was literally at the edge of her seat for this segment. But then Dancer of course saves the day when they get their magic (and his magic is one of my daughter's favorite out of all of them).

I once again muted some of the language describing the peril at length for the sake of my daughter, but it was a mild censoring that really didn't take away from the narrative of the situation. This was one of my more favorite installments given the character arcs and general themes it is trying to convey.

[Ivanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was located in Unicorn Island. Layla and Dancer (Dancer is Layla's friend and a unicorn) Dancer is nice, he loves to jump over wide rivers and likes to do Cross Country (which is when they practice jumping over tall obstacles). Layla on the other side, does not like Cross Country. She has friends that try to cheer her up, so she can go to cross country with them. But she refused to go this time. Layla's friends and her, think that Ms. Nettles is the one causing bad things to happen in Unicorn Island. Which is where cross country takes place. But, Layla is not feeling sure that Ms. Nettles is the one who is doing these bad things, like when the berries in Unicorn Island where disappearing. Yes Ms. Nettles could be the one doing these things, because she......... drank a potion and then climbed a tree, and when the berries were missing, the girls found a place on a mountain that had berries. Ms. Nettles was there before or after them. Sooooo that is why they think she did it, but Layla is in disbelief that Ms. Nettles did it. Ms. Nettles can be mean sometimes, only when the girls do something they weren't supposed to do or did not listen. Layla did not go to cross country, her teacher let her go away, so Layla went and she saw her, yes Ms. Nettles looking at a beetle. Layla and Ms. Nettles had a good amount of similarities. One day when it was summer, one of Layla's friends woke her up and told her to look out of the window, and she did. The leaf's, lots of them in the sparkle lake and on the floor. The problem was, some fly's but what fly's? Flash Fly's are the name, they were making the leaf's fall down. But no worries, because In The End Layla read many books and found the cure. The cure was on the very tip of a volcano, that was about to erupt! She and Dancer was there when it erupted. Layla and Dancer was able to get the cure, which was fire beetles. Dancer found out that he could fly! She brought the fire beetles back to Unicorn Academy and they ate the flash fly's. Layla and Dancer saved the day. This novel is good, if you want to read a fiction book about Unicorns, than this is the book for you!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great chapter book to read to my preschooler at night. She loves unicorns. This book was a good lesson on fear. Layla is a girl who fears jumping and galloping. By the end of this book she was found that she can push those fears away and be happy with her unicorn while galloping, jumping, etc

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this one to my daughter. Both my daughter and I are very cautious people by nature and it was a good lesson about taking risks and the good that can come from them. My daughter loves the unicorn academy books. We are so excited that there are so many more to read! We are thinking it's Ms. Primrose. Hmmmm.

[Adam Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The library only had this book and the first book in the series. As my daughter loved the first book we figured let’s just give this one a try. Although missing part of the previous stories it didn’t seem to really matter. The story focuses on an adventure with Layla and her unicorn dancer. We read this one in just 3 sittings my daughter just wanted to keep reading.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Quick, cute read. However, on the synopsis on the back of the book it says that Layla "wishes Dancer wasn't so afraid of jumping and riding fast like their friends" when it is actually Layla that is scared.

[Thalia S. A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book. It was engrossing to read about shy, clever Layla and the differences between her and Dancer. I don't exactly like the colour of Dancer's mane, compared to the other unicorns, but nevertheless, nice book.

[Cute Rabbit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good I really enjoyed it the in my book I haven’t read in the whole of this series now is Olivia and snowflake hopefully I read it one day .Yayyaya .Now I’m gonna move onto my next book.I really enjoyed it .

[Jake Brzovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and inoffensive. Read with my daughter so I could finish this years reading challenge. She gives it 4 stars so I’m splitting the difference with what I would give. Great for 5-8 year olds.

[Di · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow

[David Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book yet. THe writing is better and the suspense for my granddaughter is palpable as I read it to her. (she is 5) We start book 6 on Monday.

[Eleanor Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked that they saved the water. Layla's hair turned the same color as Dancer's hair. It made me feel like I was Layla.

[Joud Algorain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because it is one of my favorite books.

The best part is when Dancer's magic is flying magic! He saved Layla from the Lava by trying to jump over it but instead he was flying.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars according to my 5yo. “I like the part with the rainbow.” I’m not sure what part she means...

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrilling ending had my daughter bouncing up and down. And little bookish Layla has quick the character development!

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is a really cute and fun story for young girls. It would also work well as an early reader (for those ready to try chapter books).

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 6 yr old loves this series

[Vilne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ijjh

[Jemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although my daughter loves unicorns, she found this story "boring". That's a bit harsh, as many similar children's books are worse.

[Gideon Kalischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish some other friends would have gone with Layla on her adventure!

[Ginnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lincoln says best one so far

[Elaine Chaze · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, but I felt it could have been longer. Maybe some more detail, but I would give it 3.5 stars.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter's review: "It was good!"

[Cookies · Rating 5 out of 5]

really loved this one! great lessons that everyone has a skill that is useful and just because you don't fit the standard mould doesn't mean you're not amazing by being yourself!

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fifth book

[Truman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like when they went to the volcano and found Dancer's magic. They had to protect the unicorn's dream. This book made me feel like something bad was going to happen and that we have to read next one to find out.