Ava and Star

Unicorn Academy: Where Magic Happens #3

by Julie Sykes

Imagine a school where you meet your own unicorn and have amazing adventures together! That's what happens for the girls at Unicorn Academy on beautiful Unicorn Island.

Ava and Star love their beautiful garden at Unicorn Academy. It’s where they grow their very own magical plants!

When the sky berries that the unicorns need to survive disappear, Ava and Star will need all their skills and courage to help their friends. Can they find more of the special berries before every unicorn’s magic starts to fade?

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Unicorns, Chapter Books, Fiction, Magic, Horses

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Welcome to my website. Come on in and have a look around. You can find out about my books and also about me.

Name:
Julie Sykes

Birthday:
My birthday month is August

Place of birth:
Kingston upon Thames

Places I’ve lived:
My family moved to Australia just after I was born but returned to England in time for me to start school. I was educated in Surrey and lived there until I got married. I now live in the south of England with my husband and our three children. We used to live on a fish farm, which we shared with 300,000 rainbow trout. We share our current home with a few goldfish and a white wolf cunningly disguised as a dog.

Jobs:
I’ve worked in a kennels, shops, pubs and on a mushroom farm. My first full-time job was as a laboratory technician and after that a teacher. I’m now a full time writer.

First book published:
There were two - This and That and I Don’t Want To Go To Bed!

Favourite Things:
Family, friends, Spring (the season not the bouncy sort although bouncing is good, too), cappuccino, Danish pastries, Cornwall, the sea, books, animals, chocolate.

Worst Things:
Litter, vandals, cleaning the house, having NOTHING to read.

Hobbies:
Reading, walking, cooking, hanging out in cafés.

Reviews

[Jada Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just have to say I love it.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my professional goals for this year is to have a better breadth of reader's advisory for our youngest library customers. I'm reading children's series books - three per series - on a six-week rotating basis By the end of the year, I should be more familiar with 9-10 new-to-me children's series to share with young readers.
This is a nice series to introduce to children who like the Rainbow Magic fairy series, or books about magic, animals, or adventure. In this one, Ava, her unicorn Star, and her friends in the Sapphire dorm of Unicorn Academy have to find out why the sky berry bushes that provide nourishment for the unicorns are wilting and dying. Along the way, both Ava (who has dyslexia) and Star (who suffers from embarrassment at being clumsy) gain some self-confidence as they work with their friends to solve the problem.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall my daughter and I have enjoyed this series. (We read the books separately and then discuss them chapter by chapter, bookclub style)

I'm still struggling with children going behind the backs of the adults into dangerous situations. But it has given me opportunities to talk my daughter through these situations so that she is able to call out the danger in some decisions on her own.

[Sophia Belott · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was amazing i love the name of the girl because i have a family member named Scarlett

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It isn't that this is a BAD book; in fact, it's perfectly wholesome! (other than some possibly scary parts involving "monster" spiders and plants)

It's more that I don't have a lot to say about it—a perfectly four-star story I will absolutely forget having read in a week. I enjoyed reading it for what it was, but it FEELS like the difference between this and—oh—Magic Puppy is just what animal is featured. (Okay, there's also a UNICORN ACADEMY and all, but the point is kids with magic animals!)

As far as it being book 3, that isn't too much of a problem for someone coming to the series fresh. All the backstory you really need is... UNICORN ACADEMY. The rest is explained in the introduction: students arrive at age ten and USUALLY graduate in a year, unless they don't bond with their unicorns and/or their unicorns don't find their magic. Pretty straightforward, though I wanted to SCREAM that Ava's dyslexia was patently obvious, and why isn't this addressed... but I expect this was supposed to be a multi-part story, so HOPEFULLY it's covered in another volume when it maybe plays a larger role in the conflict? (Here, it just made her the target of a bully yet again.)

The ending is a bit lacking, due to the episodic nature. Can't really fault that, but I was sort of disappointed it wasn't resolved, mostly because I don't have the next book on hand (haha). Regular readers of the series will be fine, I assume! Recommended for young unicorn fans!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this might actually be my favorite of the series so far. The lead seemed much more developed and interesting compared to our previous ones, and the stakes felt higher here. At least there was some actual, genuine danger in this book. While I knew things would inevitably end well, there was a real sense of doom, which I found interesting and actually maybe a little exciting.

We also seem to get some stronger implications of who our main antagonists are - surprisingly, teachers Ms. Nettles and Ms. Primrose. It isn't revealed how or why they're our antagonists - is the entire series leading up to a big reveal and battle? - but the clues aren't all that subtle, probably done on purpose so the series' young readers can easily catch onto the clues and make their predictions.

I think I've read enough now that I could dive into the Netflix series. I know I'm tired of putting it off and a second season is coming out soon, so I'll have a lot to catch up on before that. But maybe I will read more books in this series, despite what I've probably said before about dropping it here. I'm interested to see what the big villain reveal looks like and what their motivations are. And, of course, how it might differ from the Netflix series. But maybe it'll be fun to engage in both at the same time. Hopefully I just make sure to keep them separate in my head.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute installment to the series. My four year old really enjoyed it, though I did skip over some of the descriptions in the perilous part of the story to spare her the panic of hearing the main character basically start suffocating and fearing impending death.

I have really started to inject some of my own commentary and conversations with my daughter about the theme of the girls breaking rules and going against explicit warnings to not do something because of the danger. At 4, my daughter can’t quite pick up on the lesson in the end where someone ended up getting really hurt and connect it to the rule being broken. Also, once again there are no major consequences or reprimands, with the characters being praised in the end.

There is some nice depictions of a learning disability - namely dyslexia. Someone gets bullied for struggling with it, but their friends stuck up for them and make it clear that they are not dumb or any less intelligent than anyone else.

[Книжни Криле · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ако си падате по детските книжни поредици за млади читатели, изпълнени с фантастични приключения и красиви илюстрации, то имаме добра новина за вас! Ако пък сте фенове на фентъзи истории за вълшебни училища и млади герои, борещи се за добро, то новината е още по-хубава! А ако новата мания вкъщи е анимационния сериал на Netflix „Академия за еднорози“, то за вас това ще е направо новината на годината! (Добре, де! Стига дрънка! Каква Е новината?!) Благодарение на изд. „Сиела“, вече можете да прочетете и на български „София и Дъга“, „Скарлет и Жар“ и „Ейва и Звезда“ - първите три романа от прочутата поредица на Джули Сайкс „Академия за еднорози“! Прочетете ревюто на „Книжни Криле“: https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/202...

[Jess HP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started reading this series with my niece (7y). I personally love to read and wanted something to talk about with my niece. These are well written and engaging for the target audience and enjoyable even for me. The main plots wraps up within the individual books and rarely impact the others in the series. This will allow for conversations on what the target reader might have done as opposed to the characters in the story. These typically deal with finding inner courage and doing what’s right. The series has an over arching plot that runs through all the books that allows you to have conversations on theories for subsequent books. These conversations have been the most fun, it’s a joy to listen to how a child thinks the world should work.

[Emerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely one of the better student recs I've gotten during my "Book Dare" challenge! It was short and sweet with all the sparkles and fluff that comes with unicorns! What I loved most was that there's clearly an ongoing villainous mystery in the series and I think that's what's typically missing from unicorn chapter books for this age group.

[Adley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great read for younger kids! It teaches great lessons about friendship, kindness, and the importance of doing the right thing. Young kids will be delighted with the fun adventures that Ava, Star, and their friends go on.

[Cute Rabbit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good.I like how Ava finally realised that she is actually a clever person .I also like how star has plant magic which is really interesting.I really enjoy med this book.📕 can’t wait to read the next one.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favourite book in the series

[Joud Algorain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because I really love unicorns!

The best part is when Ava has a stripe of lilac hair and so did Star because that means that they had found out what is Star's unicorn magic.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've reading this series to my preschooler. This book was a little to "scary" at times. For example, the use of "cloaked dark figure" chasing them.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars according to my 5yo

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit more danger in this book than previous. Still liking the very Harry Potter-esque vibes though

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

6 yr old loves these books

[Thalia S. A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the other Unicorn Academy series, I loved this book. It is interesting, though a lot of the sentences are long and harder to read, in my opinion. The pictures are superb, too!

[Julia ❤️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Czy mam prawie 16 lat? Tak
Czy właśnie w tym wieku przeczytałam tę książkę? Tak
Ta książka była słodka w swojej prostolinijności, potrzebowałam dziecięcego komfortu i ona mi ją dała 🫶

[Erin Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made my mom read this book over and over again. I LOVE IT

[Ginnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lincoln says 7 stars!

[Kami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Прекрасна поредица!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter read this to me and she loved it. I liked that the characters were likeable. I also liked that the girl has some learning differences that she is learning are ok to have.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter's review: "it was a little scary, but so so so so cute!"

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good themes and morals. Our 9 year old really likes the books and Netflix show, so she's really engaged in reading these for her bedtime book.

[Brittany James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love reading this sweet series to my 8 year old daughter. She looks forward to the adventures the girls and unicorns face in each book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A review from my 6 year-old daughter: I gave this book 5 stars because I liked the teamwork of Ava and Star and how they worked together to get through the thing that they’re stuck at.

[Cookies · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Ava in this series might be my favorite! she's so smart and struggles with dyslexia, I love how her friends look out for her

[Heather Cumbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sky berries are very important for unicorns.