Goldilicious

Goldilicious

Victoria Kann

Genre: Picture Book

Summary (from Goodreads):  Being Pinkalicious is pinkatastic, especially when she's accompanied by her pet unicorn, Goldilicious. Goldie is a roller-skating, kite-flying, high-jumping unicorn who will protect Pinkalicious from the evil wizardry of her little brother, Peter. Together, Pinkalicious and Goldilicious can conquer anything!

This enchanting follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Pinkalicious and Purplicious brings to life a new and magical character that is every bit as captivating as her pinkeriffic owner. With heaps of creativity and a touch of sparkle, Goldilicious glows--from horn to toe.

Review:  Amelia chose this book from the thrift store, and I'm so glad we didn't pay more than $0.69 for it.  Here's the entire storyline in a sentence: A girl named Pinkalicious has an imaginary unicorn friend named Goldilicious; she and her brother have some fun with imaginative play, and then her mean parents tell her it's time for bed.  I liked only two things about this book: the fun and colorful illustrations, and the encouragement of imaginative play.  The biggest flaw in my mind is that the story is seriously disjointed; there are no transitions between different imaginary play scenarios so that it is difficult to read and follow.  Oh, and there's no plot!  My kids didn't understand what was going on, and I found myself having to ad-lib lines so that the story would make sense.  I'm also not a fan of kids in books behaving badly without consequences; in this story Pinkalicious used potty humor, was mean to her brother, acted bratty, called her parents names and was hardly even reprimanded.  Yes, I know the author was trying to be funny, and yes, I know that my kids aren't going to learn how to behave badly just from reading a picture book, and yes, I know not all kids' books have to have good morals, and yes, I know that Pinkalicious was just acting like a normal kid.  But really?   Where's the redeeming value in this book?  Just in the fact that the girl has a sparkly pink dress and a unicorn friend?  Surely we can do better than this.

IF I read this book again, I'll be making up a better story.

It's rare that I feel so passionately about disliking a book.  But I seriously dislike this one.

Rating: 1 star