Heart of Gold

Cutiecorns #1

by Shannon Penney, Addy Rivera Sonda (Illustrations)

Meet the Cutiecorns, adorable puppies with magical horns who get into all kinds of enchanting adventures.
Sparkle can't believe her puptastic luck! It's finally time for the Cutiecorns to learn how to use their special magic. And Sparkle's mom has given her a golden locket to mark the big day. But before the ceremony, the locket is stolen! Can the Cutiecorns put their horns together to find the thief before it's too late?

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, Fiction, Animals

112 pages, Paperback

Published May 5, 2020

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Undeniably cute, but the book is meh.
Four anthropomorphic dogs that have unicorn horns, and thus, magic, are excited for the upcoming Jubilee. But then a spooky something steals a locket from one of the dogs and they all band together to sneak into the scary forest and get it back.

There are so many starter chapter books about people and animals starting magic school, so I feel like I’ve read this exact plot many times. The writing is pretty bad, and full of stupid dog word play like “terruffic”. The weirdest is when the dad says “see what I’ve got up my fur”. And yes, the pups all have traditional nuclear families.

When the pups go to steal back the necklace, they lie and put themselves in danger, but their parents are just proud of them for being brave? But this teaches them that they can ask for help? Also they have to pass a test to prove they are ready for school, but losing the locket means Sparkle is irresponsible and her parents won’t let her start school? Yes I’m overthinking this. And I was annoyed that all the pups are the same size when they are all different breeds.

In summary, it’s better than purrmaids because it’s dogs. But that’s not saying much. 96p, 3rd grade reading level, a few pictures per chapter, but not on every page.

[leebees · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 5 yo enjoyed this but I can't say I did or that I will get the next in the series. The dogs act more like humans than anything. They make eggs for breakfast, wear necklaces and jewelry, have bonfires, have siblings that are all different ages, go to "academy", etc.? Could have been written more cleverly imo. I liked the antagonist best, as did my little one, and probably because she had the most personality and interesting story. Too bad she was only in one or two chapters.

[talia]

Heteronormative 😔

[Marissa Gehrke]

I thought this was below average for this type of book. What's the point of them being dog unicorns, aside from the opportunity to create a cute cover? Really they act more like humans, eating pancakes, wearing lockets, and preparing for Cutiecorn school. The dog puns ("pawfect" "pawsome" etc.) were cute at first but the fact that they were used on practically every page got annoying real fast. Still, I'd give this to fans of unicorns, animals, and the Magic Puppy series.

[Emily Pool · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yep that was about as bad as I thought it was going to be. Thank you school book fair and a cute cover.

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cutiecorns found out they are going to the jubilee. Sparkle got a invitation to the jubilee.

[Hannah Ruhlman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listen, I read all 6 of these little chapter books over the last few months to my child at bedtime. I felt like I could count those collectively as one book toward my 2025 reading goal, lol.

[Ava Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well it was interesting. I’m kind of sad they made the cat a bad guy mean cats are nice. I mean they’re really nice. I have a cat and she can be friendly and scratch people sometimes but she’s still very nice and yes, I have two dogs and they are the dogs are the main character and the and the celebration they were having it’s just like a bunch of people talking. I thought it was gonna be like oh wow, they get this is where they practiced their magic and all the parents get to watch. but no anyway the good things about it I liked that the locket was like passed down from generations and that the golden retriever was pretty cute. I mean they were really good my favorite dog. Let me think i think the hunting dog. I forgot what they’re called. I think a beagle? And there’s a whole series so I’m probably gonna read those cause I am interested but definitely not my favorite book.📖

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

7year old- "I love it! It is fun. I love the Sparkle puppy. I like the pictures. The magic is fun."


My 7 year old loves these books, she has read two of them so far. She likes the adventure and how cute all the characters are. She loves all the puppy puns. Perfect book for beginning readers. Don't know why you adults are rating the book, as this is not written for adults. Let your children write the review.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with Mara. It was cute and fun and she loved it. She had gotten it from the Nye Booksale. I'm sure we'll end up getting more of the series in the future to read. She can read it on her own as well which she has done too.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute read that I think any young reader who is just starting chapter books would like if they are fans of unicorns, friendships and puppies. It's a simple story about friends helping others, taking responsibility and also understanding that you can ask for help.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mc and I added this series into our chapter book reading rotation… not my fave, but she loves them. Doesn’t feel like super rich reading (relatively speaking, for a kids’ chapter book) and the characters are pretty surface level, but I’ll continue on for her 😂

[Ellen Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cutiecorns were helping Sparkle find her locket 💛

[Laurel Partlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for little kids but not for me

[Rachel Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book for my 6 year old.

[Seff Liddell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute kids book. Great for high frequency words and readers who are new to chapter books.

[Ashley Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read with my daughter. The dog puns were exhausting 🥱

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

the claw creeped me out.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

adorable

[Michelle Till · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is focused more towards little kids but the book is actually really fun and cute! I love the cover illustration of the gokd dog! So cute!

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

First grade read-aloud. I can see the appeal for little girls, but the boys were not engaged.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute short chapter book about Cutiecorns, small puppies with magical powers and glowing unicorn horns. What more could a little girl want?!

My 5 and 7 year old daughters loved this as a read aloud. It easily reads out loud (although was a bit too descriptive for my liking at times). It uses silly puns like "ruff" instead of rough or "ter-ruff-ic." The 4 main character's names are easy to get confused at first because they all sound the same: Twinkle, Sparkle, Glitter and Flash.

There's illustrations throughout to keep younger readers interested. My 5 year old particularly loved the map of Puppypaw Island in the front and kept referencing it.

We will continue to read more of the series because it kept my kids engaged and was very wholesome. 4 out of 5 paws from this mom 🐾 😂

[Raven Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical magical unicorn dogs. For first/second grade

[Ryceejo · Rating 3 out of 5]

One more year and my daughter could probably read this by herself. So probably ages 8+. I worry that the content might be best for 5-8 year olds, since it’s very cute and babyish.