Last Saturday, I unknowingly rode my bike into the land of Unicorns right here in the Great Outdoors Community’s nature trails.

Oh MY, from my iphone – I captured “Firethroat” – A fire breathing dragon snake – Wise and philosophical.

HISTORY:  The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed,  horn projecting from its forehead. The unicorn was mentioned by the ancient Greeks.

In European folklore, the unicorn is often depicted as a white horse with a long horn. In the  Renaissance, it was a woodland creature, a symbol of purity and grace, which could only be captured by a virgin.

Doing research for this posting, I found there are hundreds of Children Fairy Tale books about Unicorns or using Unicorn characters. I chose one to tell you just a little about how one story might use unicorns.  I chose this on also because I needed to find a way to use my digitized  photograph.

I began to think about an illustration for a Fairy Tale book about Unicorns. – this is my initial take at an illustration.

The book I chose –  “Into Luster, the Land of the Unicorns”  by Bruce Coville 1999:

Cara Diana Hunter and her grandmother realize they were being followed on their way home from the library. They duck into a church, but their pursuer follows. Cara is terrified, but her grandmother seems to expect this. Grandmother gives Cara her special amulet and instructs her to run to the top of the church tower. She says that when she gets to the top of the building to clutch the amulet and on the stroke of 12 say “Luster take me home.”

She tells Cara to find the Old One and tell her “the Wanderer is weary.”  Cara does does as told, and ends up in a magical forest in a different world. This world is called Luster and it is the home of the unicorns. Cara makes several friends on her way to find the Old One, who is actually the Queen of the unicorns, in order to deliver her grandmother’s message.

Some of the characters are:

  • Cara – A young girl whose grandmother gives her an Amulet to get into Luster. Raised on the run by her grandmother, who is a “Wanderer” between our world and Luster.
  • Old One – The Queen of the Unicorns and lives in Summerhaven. She is also known as Arabella Skydancer.
  • Firethroat – A dragon snake who gives Cara the gift of tongues. Wise and philosophical.
  • Lightfoot – A unicorn prince who Cara meets soon after she arrives in Luster. He helps Cara get to Summerhaven to see the Queen.
  •  Dimblethum – A wolf like person. The Dimblethum saves Cara from a goblin-like Delver as soon as she arrives in Luster. He also assists her on her journey to see the unicorn Queen.
  • Squijum – A funny looking animal (looks a bit like a raccoon).
  • And many more!