Goldilicious

I am a sucker for picture books that try to capture the spontaneous imaginings of young children, and this is the formula that Goldilicious follows. The plot is free-flowing and subtly told through mostly dialogue. Pink's mother sends her to play outdoors after her imaginary friend, a Unicorn named Goldilicious, is deemed (in the adult's estimation) as too messy for the living room. Think of it as in the vein of the uber-classic "Where the Wild Things Are," with a massive injection of all things girly. Yet even Pink's brother Peter gets drawn into the imaginary play, resulting in a positive portrayal of sibling collaboration, each co-opting the others' tastes for the sake of fun and companionship. There are many charming details and things to notice in the backgrounds - for example, Peter can be spotted in the background, spying on Pink for three page spreads before deciding that he wants to join in. My daughter adores this book equally as well as the first two. I have to say that I prefer this one. I personally still find the character design of Pink herself to be cloying as hell, but the strengths of this book go far to overcome that. The kids' dialogue is much more believable than in the original "Pinkalicious"; even when Pink asks if Goldicious has "become one with the universe;" I would buy that as one of those precocious phrases that kids sometimes pick up on. Although I am not much of a fan of the first book, and I recoil somewhat from the whole cliched girlishness of the series, in the end I always end up thinking "well, at least it's not Hannah freakin' Montana."

Hands down, this is the best book yet in this series. Our daughter loves Pinkilicious, we don't have the purple book which she's seen but never asked for. Goldilicious is great as a parent because the 2 kids in the story are playing imaginatively, creatively, together, and without fighting. They quickly play off the changes to the imaginary tale of the Goldilicious unicorn that the other makes without once asking Mon & Dad to intervene or telling each other "no, that's not how I want to play." It's one thing for a parent to like the book but our 4 year old daughter has asked for this story every night for 2 weeks now and I couldn't be happier to read it for her over and over.

This third installment in the "icious" series (Pinkalicious and Purplicious)addresses how kids imagine and create. Our main character and her brother play and interact with a magical unicorn, Goldie. Having an imaginary friend who encourages siblings to run around, play outside, and ultimately, play together, is a winner in our house. Check out all three books - my 6 year old just bought this latest one with her own birthday money - that says something about it!

Pinkilicious returns for a third installment of this very popular uber-girly series. The endpapers feature the titular star, a pure white unicorn with perfect rouged cheeks and flowing golden locks bedecked with flowers sitting amidst gold and white lace doilies. The title page features the author's thanks, with dozens of names of family, friends, editors and other supporters woven into a series of chiaroscuro pink hills. The magazine collage-style computerized illustrations are heavy on the girly details. Page after page is cluttered with flowers, toys strewn about, tea sets and other such girlish accoutrements. Her pet unicorn, which only she can see, pales away to a ghostly translucent shade of white whenever her family is nearby. This device somewhat reminded me of Calvin and Hobbes... although this book is a great deal less tongue-in-cheek, keeping things pretty simple and syrupy sweet. Pinkalicious and her brother traipse after Goldilicious through a number of locales: a picnic with screamingly green grass and flowers crowding in at the edges, a kiddie-pool where Goldie has dolled herself up in movie-star sunglasses and a fancy mermaid tail, a ride on a gorgeously swagged orange hot air balloon. When Goldilicious goes missing, the hunt is on. Clouds shaped like unicorns and huge equine constellations are overlooked, till Pinkilicious finally finds Goldie right where her parents hoped she would... in bed, as bedtime approaches. The message is clear. Goldilicious might be imaginary... but Pinkilicious and her invisible friend aren't going to be parted anytime soon. Fans of the indefatigable Pinkilicious will find nothing to disappoint them here. Parents or teachers who are looking for stories about an imaginary friend may do better to turn to the quieter Jessica by Kevin Henkes or the offbeat Clara and Asha by Eric Rohmann. Girls looking for further stories featuring feminine adventurers will probably also appreciate the Fancy Nancy series by Jane O'Connor.

Pinkalicious, the character, is back, as exuberant and over-the-top as she was in the popular Pinkalicious and Purplicious books. This time, she has an imaginary friend, Goldie, a unicorn she treasures above all else. She yells at her brother when he sits on Goldie, and drives her parents a little crazy with her devotion. Yet Goldie is too much fun to let go of, even at night. The illustrations here are delightfulæPinkalicious and Goldie have a picnic, go roller-skating and have other fun adventures. Of course, like the other books, there's a lesson here that Pinkalicious has to learn. This book again has delightful, fun illustrations and shows kids that they're not alone in having a beloved imaginary friend, one who is always by their side.