Nobody captures young children’s body language and expressions better than Roald Dahl Funny Prizewinning author, Rebecca Patterson, who is inspired in this latest book by her own lived experience of growing up with a disabled sister.
The delightful Connie is our narrator and uses a wheelchair, which is never mentioned until it is commandeered by bossy playmate Ada as her ‘Throne of Rolling Power’. Ada and Colin, the Beswicks from next door, interrupt the magnificent game of unicorn farmers that Connie and big sister Frankie had been enjoying. The glum expressions of the three children, including Ada’s long suffering little brother Colin, trying to follow Queen Ada’s instructions for how to play her games, are simply hilarious. But when they rebel and leave her behind, Ada burst into tears and Colin shares a few home truths with his sister before Connie the peacemaker suggests they all be good unicorns together and a whole day of unicorn play follows. Not only a lovely relatable message about how to play together so that everyone is happy, but a really positive depiction of sibling love and, most importantly, portraying a disabled central character full of agency and fun.
Roald Dahl Funny Prize winner Rebecca Patterson deftly handles the subject of childhood play and disability from her own personal experience of growing up with a disabled sister.
Frankie and her sister are unicorn mad! Today, they're playing their favourite unicorn game, but when their bossy friend Ada arrives with her brother to play, she takes over the game - and takes over the wheelchair - putting them all in unicorn prison! After all, they've been bad unicorns, haven't they?
Rebecca Patterson grew up in Bolton, and studied fashion due to a love of fashion illustration. After graduating, she worked at an assortment of jobs, including being an classroom assistant in a primary school. Once her own children had started school, Rebecca began an MA in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art and had her first picture books commissioned at the end of the course. Rebecca's work is inspired by her own childhood and her children's lives. She is the 2012 winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. She lives in Cambridge.