Roxy the Last Unisaurus Rex

September 28, 2020
Self-esteem isn’t an issue for half-dinosaur, half-unicorn Roxy, who, in her own words, is “only the most magical creature in the world.” Roxy is proud to sport her T. rex mother’s toothy grin and “slight anger issues,” and her unicorn father’s gorgeous mane and “runway-ready prance.” But it’s also lonely being one of a kind: her dinosaur classmates rebuff her friendship in favor of hanging with their own species. The tennis-playing diplodocuses won’t let her join in, and the tough-looking T. rexes scoff at her streaming mane, declaring that she’s “too much.” The tide turns when Roxy discovers another “dinocorn” in the world—an equally confident half-brontosaurus, half-unicorn who has strong and almost opposite tastes (he’s a meditating vegetarian) but is eager to be her friend. Chen’s (Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes) by-the-book story never expands into interspecies friendship, but Rivera (Fussy Flamingo) lifts the familiar premise with a fruit-soda palette and translucent, cloudlike textures in his vignettes. Ages 4–6.