While on an expedition with the Duke, his son, and a group of hunters to retrieve the magical horn from a unicorn, Tanisa, the servant girl, comes face-to-face with the magical creature and sees the power it possesses in its magical eyes when the Duke's son approaches with arrow at the ready. Grade 3–5—"Few men will dare to look into a unicorn's eyes." Sung by a visiting minstrel, these words only fire the hunting enthusiasm of the Duke's nobles in this opulent romance. In keeping with old stories of the fabled beast, the unicorn befriends Tanisa, a kind serving girl, and lays his head in her lap as she dozes in a meadow. She's then wounded in trying to shield him from the flying arrow shot by the Duke's son, her former childhood playmate. Now nearly grown, Chris is bent on killing the creature both for the wealth its carcass will bring and to gain his father's approval. Stunned that he has wounded Tanisa, he looks into the unicorn's eyes. Of course, his hardened heart is softened and her wound is healed by the unicorn's touch. Promising to rule with wisdom when he comes into adulthood, Chris sends the girl and the unicorn off into hiding to await a safer time. Lavish scenes rendered in Photoshop blend photographs of the humans and their horses and dogs with painted landscapes and unicorns. Darkened views shot with golden lighting, lengthened images, and occasional blurred focus lend a dramatic, surreal tone to the rather hackneyed scenario. The vigorous, cinematic views and the hint of future love fit a traditional fairy-tale niche.— Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Teresa Bateman is a children's author and school librarian. "The ting I've found about shoes," she says, "is that they usually have memories attached to them." She lives in Tacoma, Washington. Greg Spalenka is a fine artist and illustrator, who has created dozens of covers for books. He has alo worked as an animator on the feature film "The Ant Bully." His home is in Woodland Hills, California. Used Book in Good Condition