Unicorn Books for Kids and a Story Starring Your Child
Make a story like this with your child as the hero
Some children draw unicorns on everything: the steamed-up car window, the back of a shopping list, their own hand. If yours has a favourite plush unicorn with a name and a whole life story, knows that a unicorn's horn glows when it's happy and asks for "the unicorn one" at every bedtime, this guide is for you.
Here you'll find the unicorn books for kids that parents keep reaching for, a gentle unicorn bedtime story to tell tonight, a simple six-step way to make one up yourself, and how that story becomes a printed picture book: a unicorn story starring your child, with their name on the cover.
Unicorn Books for Toddlers and Young Children
Unicorns turn up in all sorts of stories, but the best ones are rarely about sparkle alone. They are about wishing, belonging and being brave enough to be yourself. These six unicorn books cover a wide range of ages and moods.
Uni the Unicorn by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Brigette Barrager: a little unicorn is certain that little girls are real, even though the grown-up unicorns laugh at the idea. Somewhere, a girl feels exactly the same about unicorns. Sweet, short and lovely for the youngest listeners.
Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima: Kelp grows up under the sea, sure he is a narwhal, until a trip to the surface shows him a herd of unicorns. A warm story about fitting into two worlds at once.
Thelma the Unicorn by Aaron Blabey: a plain pony with a carrot taped to her head becomes the most famous unicorn around, and then finds out that fame isn't what she wanted after all. Funny, rhyming and very good at bedtime.
Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great by Bob Shea: Goat is fed up with Unicorn showing off, until it turns out that Unicorn admires Goat too. A giggly book about jealousy and friendship.
Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson: a comic about a girl who hits a vain unicorn with a skimming stone and wins a wish: she asks for a best friend. For confident readers of seven and up.
Unicorn Academy by Julie Sykes: a chapter-book series about children paired with their own unicorns at a magical school. The natural next step once picture books feel too short.
What do the best of them share? A small hero with a big wish, a friend who isn't quite what they seem, and a moment where kindness or courage makes the magic work. That's a shape you can borrow for your own child's story.
A Five-Minute Unicorn Bedtime Story
Here is a quiet story for the end of the day. Swap in your child's name wherever you read Sam, and slow down a little more with each paragraph.
On the windiest night of the year, Sam heard a tap-tap-tap at the window. Outside, standing in the flowerbed, was a unicorn no bigger than a pony, with a mane the colour of candyfloss and a horn that flickered like a torch with a flat battery.
"I've lost my shine," whispered the unicorn. "It blew away with the wind, and without it I can't find my way home."
So Sam pulled on a dressing gown and slippers, and they searched the garden together. A little glimmer had caught in the apple tree. A little more was hiding in the watering can. The last of it was curled up asleep in the cat's basket, and it took a lot of gentle coaxing to wake it.
With every glimmer they found, the horn glowed a little brighter, until the whole garden was lit up silver. "Thank you, Sam," said the unicorn, and it trotted away up a moonbeam, softer and softer, until it was just one more star.
And in the morning, in the flowerbed, there were four tiny hoofprints, and they sparkled.
The second time you tell it, your child will want to choose where the shine was hiding. Let them. That's the beginning of a story that is properly theirs.
Make It Their Own: a Unicorn Story Recipe
You only need six answers to build a whole story. Say each one aloud with a bit of detail, and the tale fills about five minutes.
The hero: your child's first name and age, and the unicorn they would most like to meet. A white one with a rainbow mane, a tiny pink one, a silver unicorn that only comes out at night.
The meeting place: somewhere familiar where a unicorn might appear. The end of the garden, the park after the rain, the gap behind the wardrobe.
The unicorn friend: its name and one funny habit. It sneezes glitter, it only eats strawberries, it is scared of ducks.
The worry: something small going wrong that a child could help with. A faded rainbow, a star that went out, a lost way home.
The kind or clever moment: how your child saves the day. Spotting something nobody else noticed, being patient with a shy friend, being brave in the dark.
Home again: back where your evenings really end. A cup of milk, the favourite blanket, a unicorn waving goodnight through the window.
A Worked Example: Mia and the Little Unicorn
Here are the six answers for a little girl called Mia, who loves unicorns.
The hero: Mia, in her yellow raincoat and wellies.
The meeting place: the green gate at the bottom of her garden, where the meadow begins.
The unicorn friend: Willow, a small white unicorn with a lilac mane and a blue ribbon, who paints a rainbow over the garden every morning.
The worry: today Willow's rainbow has gone pale, and nobody knows where its colours went.
The kind or clever moment: riding on Willow's back, Mia finds the colours one by one: red in a poppy, blue in the waterfall's pool, yellow in a buttercup on the hill.
Home again: the rainbow shines over the garden once more, and Mia waves goodnight to Willow from her bedroom window.
This is real output from Photo9's story writer. We gave it Mia's name, her age, that she loves unicorns, and one of the ready stories below: a little unicorn whose rainbow has faded. It wrote all fourteen pages and painted every picture. Mia is not a real child: we drew her as a sample.
From Story to Book: a Personalised Unicorn Book
A story told aloud is gone by morning. A printed one sits on the shelf, gets carried to Grandma's and is read alone under the covers. Photo9 turns yours into a personalised unicorn book, with your child drawn as the hero from a single photo.
Add one photo. Before you pay anything, we draw your child as a picture-book character so you can see the likeness first. The photo is used only for the drawing, deleted afterwards, never shared and never used to train AI.
Choose the story. Tap one of the ready unicorn stories below, or type your six answers in your own words.
Tell us about their unicorn and the reader's age. Toddlers get short, sing-song lines; older readers get richer sentences and a bit more adventure.
Pick the look. 3D animation, watercolour or classic storybook, with the words beside each picture or one big painting across both pages.
Read every page before you order. Change any word and add a dedication of your own on the first page.
Each book is a 30-page square hardcover with 14 illustrated scenes, printed in your region. Up to three companions can join the story, such as a little brother, a grandparent or the family cat, each drawn from their own photo.
Ready Unicorn Stories to Start From
Not in the mood to write? Choose one of these. Every one is written around your child, with their name, their age and the things they love.
The unicorn who lost its rainbow: a little unicorn's rainbow has faded, and only your child can bring the colours back.
The moonlight unicorn: a night ride among the stars, and back in bed before morning.
The shy unicorn in the woods: a timid unicorn hides behind the ferns, and your child finds a gentle way to make friends.
The Christmas unicorn: a snowy Christmas Eve, and a unicorn whose horn lights the way.
A big unicorn adventure: leave it to us, with a ride on the kindest unicorn and home again.
Each link opens the book maker with that story already selected. Nothing is printed until you place an order.
Gifts for Unicorn Lovers
Unicorn fans tend to own a lot of unicorns already: the T-shirt, the lunchbox, the plush one with the bent horn. A book where they ride a unicorn themselves is the one they won't have yet, which makes it one of the more personal gifts for unicorn lovers, for a birthday, for Christmas or for no reason at all. A few tips:
Choose a clear, bright photo. Looking at the camera, in daylight, nothing covering the face.
Describe their own unicorn. If the plush one at home has a name and a pink mane, put both in and it becomes the star.
Write a few words on the first page. A dedication from parents, grandparents, an aunt or a godparent turns it into a keepsake.
Send it straight to them. Put their address in at checkout and the book goes directly to their door.
For more ideas, read our guide to personal photo book birthday gifts. And if the unicorn drawings are piling up on the fridge, you can turn them into a photo book of your child's drawings as well.
Reading It Together
Children rarely rush through a book they appear in. Give them time to spot themselves in each picture, let them name every colour as Willow finds it, and leave the last word of a page for them once they know it by heart. Soon enough they'll be "reading" it to their plush unicorn on their own.
Does your child have other big loves? Our guides to dinosaur books and a story starring your child, digger and truck books and train books follow the same recipe, and our Christmas story starring your child is full of December ideas. Every one of our personalised children's books starts with one photo, whether it's for bedtime, a birthday, a new baby or the first day at school.
Questions Parents Ask
Can the unicorn look like my child's favourite toy?
Yes. Describe it, with its name, its colours and anything special like a golden horn or a star on its forehead, and it is painted that way on every page. You can still change any word before printing.
Is it a gentle story?
Yes. The unicorns are kind, nothing frightening happens, and the words are written for the reader's age, from toddlers to confident readers.
How many photos do you need?
Just one clear photo. We draw your child once from it and paint every picture from that drawing, so they look like themselves on every page.
Can a brother, sister or our pet join in?
Yes, up to three companions, each drawn from their own photo.
When does it arrive?
Most books arrive within a week, and checkout shows the delivery date before you pay. Making the drawing and the story takes only a few minutes.
