Team Unihorn and Woolly #1

April 15, 2024
Grades 1-5 Tonight is the big eclipse party at Burlap Beach, and the surf is up! Rhino Raina is hitting the colossal waves with her friend Nigel, a narwhal, when she accidentally crashes into Shu, a horseshoe crab. The three friends find a talking block of ice on the shoreline and discover that it's actually a frozen woolly mammoth (Woolly), who's trapped inside along with a cloud of krill, and the friends work together to break him free. When a rogue storm pulls the creatures closer to the eclipse, the direct exposure to the event gives Raina, Nigel, and Shu superpowers. Together, they form Team Unihorn, but they're comically inept at solving anyone's problems. Finally they recognize Woolly's capabilities, and not a moment too soon--they'll need his help to defeat a voraciously hungry krill monster! Bold colors, supercute characters, energetic atmosphere, outlandish action, and lots of silly jokes make this a perfect fit for fans of Ben Clanton's Narwhal and Jelly or Dav Pilkey's Dog Man series.

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Starred review from May 24, 2024

Gr 1-4-Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and superpowers are not a requirement in this hilarious series debut about four friends who save the day. Raina the rhinoceros and Nigel the narwhal are surfing at Burlap Beach, while Shu the horseshoe crab is preparing for the blood moon eclipse on the beach. Woolly the mammoth crashes in on a wave, still stuck in a hunk of ice, and his awkwardness does not endear him to Raina, Nigel, or Shu. A storm hits, sweeping all of them close to the eclipse and they receive superpowers-except for Woolly. When prehistoric krill from Woolly's ice block attack Burlap Beach, the superheroes rush to save the day. Vivid digital art creates a wonderfully imaginative world, with expressive speech bubbles to indicate emotion and an excellent use of bleed and panel layering to indicate mood and tone. Action sequences, such as the trap set for the krill, layer and build the rising action, while important moments are rendered as splash pages. This encourages reading immersion. Meanwhile, the narrative carries a sweet message about friendship, heroism, and kindness with humor. VERDICT This graphic novel is an example of dynamo sequential storytelling and beginning readers will love this book.-Rachel Zuffa

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March 1, 2024
The heroes of the beach are here! But what makes someone a hero? Raina the rhino, Shu the horseshoe crab, and Nigel the narwhal are at Burlap Beach when a chunk of ice containing a woolly mammoth washes ashore. Team Unihorn, as they later dub themselves (as Shu says, a horseshoe crab's tail definitely counts as a horn), break Woolly and some prehistoric krill out just in time. A massive storm is on the way, along with a blood supermoon eclipse. The moon's rays endow Raina, Shu, and Nigel with superpowers but leave Woolly unchanged. The storm has left the beach a mess, so Team Unihorn use their abilities to help, but they only make things worse. Meanwhile, Woolly's feeling left out. But when the prehistoric krill merge to form a giant monster, Woolly steps up. He may not have powers, but he possesses physical strength, unexpected talents, and brains. Endearing Woolly leaves an awkward first impression--peeing in Nigel's seawater and crushing Shu's telescope--but his recognition at the end is well deserved, and readers will appreciate the message that anyone can be a hero. Each protagonist has a unique size and silhouette, making them stand out amid the action. The animals are adorable, with round, almost cuddly bodies; the whimsical look of the cartoon images keeps the tone light, no matter how intense the action gets. A wildly entertaining lesson in heroics. (Graphic fantasy. 6-10)

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