By Linda, Everett Public Library staff
Did you know that narwhals may be the ‘original’ unicorns?
I found this information on page 31 in the book Whales and Dolphins by Robin Kerrod. This ‘Exploring Nature’ book is all about whales, porpoises, dolphins, and more and explains the differences between them. Long ago when narwhals were little known, their ‘horns,’ which are actually a large protruding canine tooth, were thought to be (and passed off as) unicorn horns. A unicorn’s horn is sometimes called an alicorn.
Narwhals by Todd McLeish describes how narwhal horns were sold for great amounts of money to royalty and others as unicorn horns. Narwhals are still being hunted for their horns, and conservation efforts are under way.
Another animal that has been mistaken for a unicorn is the saola, a relative of antelopes, goats, and cattle. The Last Unicorn by William DeBuys tells about the author’s journey to find a living saola. It sounds like it was quite an adventure through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. While saolas do have 2 horns, from the side it looks like they have one.
Unicorns have many names and appearances. They are known as Ki-lin in China with a short curly horn and Karkaddan in Arabia and Persia with a long pointy horn. Behold … the Unicorns! by Gail Gibbons lets us see the way unicorns are viewed around the world and the legends behind them. It is also well-known that ‘uni’ means one, as in unicorn = one horn, unicycle = one wheel etc. One is a book of colors and numbers by Kathryn Otoshi and helps teach kids to stand up for themselves. Kathryn has won 15 awards for her books and this ‘one’ won the E.B White read aloud honor.
It doesn’t matter if you believe they are real or not, there are many stories about unicorns. The Unicorn Treasury by Bruce Coville is a book that has unicorn stories and poems. Now if you have a unicorn, it will need to be properly trained! Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Unicorn Training by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater is a must for the unicorn owner. Pip works at a magical creature clinic and has points and tips for caring for your unicorn, shadyhog, wimpleing or other magical beast. So, keep your eyes open, because you never know when you might see a unicorn!
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