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The Unicorn of the West
A lonely young unicorn who has never seen another like himself follows a mysterious melody that takes him to the mountains, where he encounters the Unicorns of the North, South, and East and discovers his own identity as the Unicorn of the West.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1994
22 people want to read
About the author
Alma Flor Ada
677 books188 followers(http://facebook.com/almaflorada)
Dr. Ada was the founder and First Editor in Chief of :
NABE, Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education
She has been active for many years in various professional associations including : IRA, International Reading Association
CRA, California Reading Association
CABE, California Association for Bilingual Education
USIBBY, US Branch of the International Board of Books for Young People
She is a member of :
Advisory Board of Loose Leaf Public Radio Programs
National Television Workshop
Between the Lines
Reading Up!, Natural Head Start Association
A frequent speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Ada also works in school districts with children, teachers and parents.
The award-winning author of numerous children’s books and a prolific translator, Alma Flor Ada is a leading mentor and philosopher of bilingual education in the United States.
She has authored several reading programs, among them two Spanish reading programs :
Cielo abierto (K-6)
Vamos de fiesta! (K-3)
and of two English reading programs :
Signatures (K-6)
Collections (K- 6)
and is a series consultant for Relatos de la historia (1-5), a Spanish social studies program developed by Harcourt School Publishers.
Among her most substantive contributions to the transmission of Hispanic culture to children are :
Música amiga, a program for learning through songs, published by Del Sol Books
Puertas al Sol - Pathways to the Sun, published by Santillana
Latino poetry, Art, and Biographies for children, published by Santillana
Dr. Ada received her Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Lima, Perú and did post-doctoral research at Harvard University as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute and a Fulbright Research Scholar.
Dr. Ada was the founder and First Editor in Chief of :
NABE, Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education
She has been active for many years in various professional associations including : IRA, International Reading Association
CRA, California Reading Association
CABE, California Association for Bilingual Education
USIBBY, US Branch of the International Board of Books for Young People
She is a member of :
Advisory Board of Loose Leaf Public Radio Programs
National Television Workshop
Between the Lines
Reading Up!, Natural Head Start Association
A frequent speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Ada also works in school districts with children, teachers and parents.
The award-winning author of numerous children’s books and a prolific translator, Alma Flor Ada is a leading mentor and philosopher of bilingual education in the United States.
She has authored several reading programs, among them two Spanish reading programs :
Cielo abierto (K-6)
Vamos de fiesta! (K-3)
and of two English reading programs :
Signatures (K-6)
Collections (K- 6)
and is a series consultant for Relatos de la historia (1-5), a Spanish social studies program developed by Harcourt School Publishers.
Among her most substantive contributions to the transmission of Hispanic culture to children are :
Música amiga, a program for learning through songs, published by Del Sol Books
Puertas al Sol - Pathways to the Sun, published by Santillana
Latino poetry, Art, and Biographies for children, published by Santillana
Dr. Ada received her Ph.D. in Spanish Literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Lima, Perú and did post-doctoral research at Harvard University as a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute and a Fulbright Research Scholar.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 10, 2014
I believe I picked this up back in my Durand days because we read another story by Alma Flor Ada.
It's an okay story. A unicorn who seems a little too much in praise of himself, doesn't know who he is. He asks different animals if they can help. They call him "friend" and promise to find out. Eventually the unicorn attends the once-every-seven-years meeting of the unicorns and discovers who he is.
Eh.
It's an okay story. A unicorn who seems a little too much in praise of himself, doesn't know who he is. He asks different animals if they can help. They call him "friend" and promise to find out. Eventually the unicorn attends the once-every-seven-years meeting of the unicorns and discovers who he is.
Eh.
October 30, 2007
The story of a unicorn trying to find others like him with the help of some forest friends-the illustrations were the best part-absolutely beautiful
November 30, 2016
self Identity, finding to belong, looking for Home
June 17, 2024
A solitary unicorn seeks to uncover who and what he is with the help of various animals friends in this original fairy-tale from author Alma Flor Ada and illustrator Abigail Pizer. Having never seen another of his kind, the unicorn is unable to answer questions about himself when he meets a robin, butterfly and squirrel, each of whom set out to help him, by searching for others of his kind. The unicorn, in the meantime, follows the unearthly music he hears one day, finding three other unicorns in the nearby mountains. Here he discovers that he is the Unicorn of the West, that the other three are the Unicorns of the North, South and East, and that it is the role of unicorns to ensure that the world has enough love, and beautiful dreams to live on...
I've been on a unicorn picture book kick recently, after being reminded of a few unicorn stories I'd been meaning to read by a display at my local library for Unicorn Day, back in April. In searching for additional titles (what can I say? I tend to fall down thematic rabbit holes) I discovered The Unicorn of the West, written by Alma Flor Ada, whose work I know, and illustrated by Abigail Pizer (great name!), of whom I'd never heard. In any case, I found the story here interesting, and enjoyed certain aspects of it—the idea of four unicorns representing the cardinal directions, the fact that the unicorn at first thinks the butterfly is a flower with wings—but I'm not sure it held together all that well. The watercolor artwork is quite lovely, and although not destined to become a favorite, I think I would have enjoyed this one, as a girl. Recommended to young unicorn lovers, and to those who enjoy original fairy-tales.
I've been on a unicorn picture book kick recently, after being reminded of a few unicorn stories I'd been meaning to read by a display at my local library for Unicorn Day, back in April. In searching for additional titles (what can I say? I tend to fall down thematic rabbit holes) I discovered The Unicorn of the West, written by Alma Flor Ada, whose work I know, and illustrated by Abigail Pizer (great name!), of whom I'd never heard. In any case, I found the story here interesting, and enjoyed certain aspects of it—the idea of four unicorns representing the cardinal directions, the fact that the unicorn at first thinks the butterfly is a flower with wings—but I'm not sure it held together all that well. The watercolor artwork is quite lovely, and although not destined to become a favorite, I think I would have enjoyed this one, as a girl. Recommended to young unicorn lovers, and to those who enjoy original fairy-tales.
January 27, 2023
We liked that it talked about friendship.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews