A story of storytelling, books, libraries and war. Set in a time in the not so distant past in a place where war was near and came and remembers those with military power that ordered the destruction of books. Books and more can be destroyed in war, but people can be galvanised to into society and working together to preserve what is good. This is a lesson in the importance of books in education and of imagination and was the third of a set of books by the author that I am reading to my 7 and 5 year old children. Long live unicorns of our dreams and the species we share the world with not least the narwhal in our seas. Peace be with you! ( )

Eight-year-old Tomas, who doesn't like school and reading, spends his time roaming the mountains. One day, his mother insists that he visit the library, where the librarian is known for her storytelling. Sullen Tomas is soon captivated by the "Unicorn Lady," so called because of the life-size carved unicorn in the reading room. Tomas would rather be roaming around the mountains but reluctantly listens to the village librarian as, perched on a life-size carved unicorn, she tells the story of how the last two unicorns missed Noah's ark, then swam until they no longer needed legs and became narwhals. The librarian also tells a graphic story of brown-shirted men who burned her father's library and shows a scorched copy of The Little Match Girl he pulled from the flames. The librarian's favorite book is The Little Match Girl, though her copy is burnt around the edges. She once lived under a regime where books were burned, but her father rescued this one from a bonfire. Soon war comes to Tomas' village. The bombing destroys the library, but stalwart townspeople, with Tomas' father and the Unicorn Lady in the forefront, save the books. This short, small-format novel carries a heartfelt message: "Stories and poems help you to think and to dream. Books make you ask questions," and it's imperative to fight those who would deny you the right to read. Morpurgo's prose, solid, but with a poetic lilt, is extended by lovely, softly colored two-page illustrations and smaller black-and-white vignettes. Blythe's sensitive crosshatched pencil, black wash, and full-color watercolors depict the village and the animals with enough drama to entice.

A man relates how he came to believe in unicorns as an eight-year-old boy while also remembering how he learned about the importance in life of books and storytelling, especially in the midst of war. ( )

A man relates how he came to believe in unicorns as an eight-year-old boy while also remembering how he learned about the importance in life of books and storytelling, especially in the midst of war