Fiona and the Flying Unicorns

Anne Hutchings is a public-school teacher and librarian in Ajax,
Ontario.

Nine-year-old Fiona Malloy does not follow directions, whether they be
for sewing Brownie badges or for planning her science-fair projects. She
leaves things until the last minute and then scrambles for a solution.
The school principal has rejected (as “unscientific”) her plan for a
science-fair project about unicorns. Fiona and her arch-enemy, Bradley
Newcomb, have until Monday to develop a suitable plan or they will be
assigned to assist Fiona’s older brother, Everett, with his
project—a fate they wish to avoid at all costs. Through a series of
misadventures while babysitting four-year-old Stanley, Fiona and Bradley
eventually become allies and agree to collaborate on a study of
“Aerodynamic Function in the Design of Paper Airplanes” with a fleet
of aircraft known as “Unicorn Air.”

The themes of choosing science-fair topics, needing to plan ahead, and
being late for projects are ones to which students can relate, while
unicorns are very popular with nine- and ten-year-old girls. This story,
however, seems very contrived. Events don’t flow, but tend to be
episodic; moreover, many of the incidents seem less than believable.

The inclusion of visible minorities is a plus for librarians on the
lookout for books of a multicultural nature. But Mrs. Wong’s language
is stereotypical and Mr. Banducci speaks in pidgin Italian: some readers
may find this offensive. Other stereotypes are evident, too: Mrs. Malloy
spends her time in the kitchen reading cookbooks and is “the best cook
in the Fraser valley”; Rev. Malloy and Everett are interested in
hockey. Everett has a T-shirt with the logo “E = MC2” and likes math
and science, while Fiona is interested only in unicorns. All this
detracts from the story considerably.

The book seems to be aimed at a Grade 4 level, but some of the
vocabulary is difficult and would not be easily understood by its target
audience. Characters, furthermore, tend to be artificial. Fiona, we are
told, is “creative,” her difficulties are due largely to an
imagination that “just lifts [her] up and carries [her] away.” Yet
she behaves in a generally thoughtless and inconsiderate manner,
liberally laced with sheer disobedience. And few four-year-olds in my
experience really talk and act like Stanley. Finally, the topic chosen
by Fiona and Bradley for their science-fair project is completely
unrealistic.