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Choose Your Own Adventure #51
The Magic of the Unicorn
Only a unicorn's horn can purify the water in your medieval village. Thus YOU set off on a quest to find the unicorn that can save your people, encountering many magical beings along the way.
128 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
September 29, 2019
I LOVED Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was in elementary school. I remember reading them over and over!!
I only wished I had remembered them earlier as my daughter, who has always been an avid reader would have loved them too.
Originally released in the 1970's and 1980's in 2005 some were re-released. They updated some of the original titles with new pictures and text. Unfortunately The Magic of the Unicorn was not re-released.
I'm saying it again....I loved these. They were really unlike any other children's books released at that time. They looked like little chapter books and were about the same length. However, they were interactive. You didn't read the book from beginning to end in order. In all of the books YOU the reader were the main character and were choosing the path. You made the choices that determined your actions and the outcome of the story. Then you went back and did it all over again...and again....and again....
You start the book and after a few pages you are given options (usually two or three). You go to the page listed after the option you've chosen and carry on reading until the next set of options. This continues until the options lead to an ending. The number of ending varies in each book. In this one which was my favorite there was 27 endings.
The Magic of the Unicorn (I really liked unicorns) was my absolute favorite but I would read any that I could get my hands on. In this one the reader (me) had to find a unicorn in order to save everyone in the village! The unicorn was very important....But what happened was up to me!
As I make my choices will I find a unicorn and save everyone? Will I live or die? So many possible endings!
I've read that they were originally written for 10 to 14 year olds. I'm not entirely sure how old I was when I started reading them. I know that some of the endings could be rather dark but of course there were many happy endings too!
IT. WAS. AWESOME!!!
I only wished I had remembered them earlier as my daughter, who has always been an avid reader would have loved them too.
Originally released in the 1970's and 1980's in 2005 some were re-released. They updated some of the original titles with new pictures and text. Unfortunately The Magic of the Unicorn was not re-released.
I'm saying it again....I loved these. They were really unlike any other children's books released at that time. They looked like little chapter books and were about the same length. However, they were interactive. You didn't read the book from beginning to end in order. In all of the books YOU the reader were the main character and were choosing the path. You made the choices that determined your actions and the outcome of the story. Then you went back and did it all over again...and again....and again....
You start the book and after a few pages you are given options (usually two or three). You go to the page listed after the option you've chosen and carry on reading until the next set of options. This continues until the options lead to an ending. The number of ending varies in each book. In this one which was my favorite there was 27 endings.
The Magic of the Unicorn (I really liked unicorns) was my absolute favorite but I would read any that I could get my hands on. In this one the reader (me) had to find a unicorn in order to save everyone in the village! The unicorn was very important....But what happened was up to me!
As I make my choices will I find a unicorn and save everyone? Will I live or die? So many possible endings!
I've read that they were originally written for 10 to 14 year olds. I'm not entirely sure how old I was when I started reading them. I know that some of the endings could be rather dark but of course there were many happy endings too!
IT. WAS. AWESOME!!!
October 21, 2017
This is 100% a nostalgic fueled review. I loved reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books in elementary school. Of all the books I read, however, The Magic of Unicorns is the only title that I distinctly remember, probably due to my love of unicorns, but also because it was the one book I remembered getting a good ending for without "cheating."
It was lovely to step back into this style of book and it holds up fairly well today. I am very glad to have this piece of my childhood to read again and again.
It was lovely to step back into this style of book and it holds up fairly well today. I am very glad to have this piece of my childhood to read again and again.
January 24, 2022
I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid and stumbled across 3 in a thrift store. Today I introduced this one to my Middle Schoolers and they loved it. The class loved deciding where to go and when we made a potentially deadly choice they would try to get me to back track so the story was not over. They were so engaged.
January 22, 2023
This was a fun read with my second grader! Definitely recommend for nostalgia and to excite a young reader.
September 5, 2017
Read on a weekend trip with a friend's family. I used to love Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid and even got away with writing book reports about them in middle school! In this outing, I successfully turned myself into a unicorn, but it's not clear whether that actually saved my village, or if I'm happy about it. I did have to abandon all wishes to achieve this, so I guess this is a very neutral ending. ;-)
November 9, 2018
THIS. This is everything a choose your own book should be! I loved it. There were fantastical endings and not-so fantastical endings. If you made the wrong choice it could end death. The right one meant life for everyone! Even the magical creatures roaming the forest!
Honestly, I think I really connected with the story because I am a village girl and back in 2012 we had a drought. If there was anything I could have done I would have done it.
I think I played through all 27 endings. By far my favorite one is the one where she goes off, gets job skills, saves her village, and everyone lives a happy life of prosperity. Except the unicorn. You didn't know she existed. Heh!
Honestly, I think I really connected with the story because I am a village girl and back in 2012 we had a drought. If there was anything I could have done I would have done it.
I think I played through all 27 endings. By far my favorite one is the one where she goes off, gets job skills, saves her village, and everyone lives a happy life of prosperity. Except the unicorn. You didn't know she existed. Heh!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2020
My very academic, very serious read for my masters degree
May 20, 2019
So many unpredictable things happen in this book! As an adult I've read back over some CYOA stories that have bored me or seemed too childish to enjoy, but this one was spectacular. The cover boasts 27 endings, so at that expense each path you choose is relatively short. But there are lots of fantasy elements, and there are as many happy outcomes as there are ways to die or be cursed. I really enjoyed this book.
March 1, 2023
I only died like four times. VERY excited for the opportunity to become an alchemist AND a unicorn.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2025
I was stoned and exiled by the villagers for visiting the town lepers within the first 5 pages.
5 out of 5
5 out of 5
February 24, 2020
Hell yeah dude. That’s one of the good CYOAs for sure.
November 30, 2015
You can bet I'm fully trained to find unicorns in forests and save my village from expiring of thirst. 1507 in Flanders: I can handle it! Will I choose to go into a cellar full of spiders?!? No, thank you!
January 22, 2022
You know what? This is really fun and surprisingly well written for a children's book whose individual story lines are somewhere between 6 and 19 pages long. The format is really interesting too. I think Choose Your Own Adventure books can get dismissed out of hand as all novelty, no substance, but in many ways, the format is the substance -- something that authors as vaunted as Jorge Luis Borges have toyed with in deconstructing the reading experience and examining the phenomenology of narrative.
That's a bit lofty, I know, but this is very much what came to mind while reading The Magic of the Unicorn. This book is a Garden of Forking Paths with all possibilities existing simultaneously -- one on top of the other -- so if you read through every possible storyline, like I did, the knowledge of other paths begins to haunt you. There's a whole universe that exists within these pages, but at any given point in time, you only have access to one small part of it, which really lays bare how narrative is only possible through limitation, and meaning only exists within narrative. If a unicorn dies in the forest and no one ever knows, does it matter? Conversely, if you know everything there is about all possible futures, can you ever truly be satisfied knowing your narrative is neither unique nor inevitable?
I actually never liked these books as a kid. I found them frustrating, so instead of making choices linearly, I'd search through the entire book for the ending I wanted, then painstakingly reconstruct a diagram of all pages leading to that point, before starting to read. (In my husband's words, I "kobayashi marued the book.")
I used to think that I was doing it "wrong," but now having read through a Choose Your Own Adventure as an adult, I'm not so sure there is a way to do it wrong.
As a kid, I was treating Choose Your Own Adventures as puzzles to be solved -- or as challenges to be conquered -- and in doing that, I was playing to my strengths (big picture, structural thinking) and learning the value of identifying the future you want and mapping out the steps to get there. For other kids who went through linearly, there are other lessons: how to make a choice and live with the consequences, how to admit a mistake and pick yourself up to try again, how to weigh options and manage risk, or simply how to think about things from different perspectives.
Or, you know, they're just fun.
The Magic of The Unicorn contains 32 unique, perfectly passable fantasy tales, some of which are dreamy, others of which are brutal and horrifying, but all of which are engaging, however you choose to adventure.
That's a bit lofty, I know, but this is very much what came to mind while reading The Magic of the Unicorn. This book is a Garden of Forking Paths with all possibilities existing simultaneously -- one on top of the other -- so if you read through every possible storyline, like I did, the knowledge of other paths begins to haunt you. There's a whole universe that exists within these pages, but at any given point in time, you only have access to one small part of it, which really lays bare how narrative is only possible through limitation, and meaning only exists within narrative. If a unicorn dies in the forest and no one ever knows, does it matter? Conversely, if you know everything there is about all possible futures, can you ever truly be satisfied knowing your narrative is neither unique nor inevitable?
I actually never liked these books as a kid. I found them frustrating, so instead of making choices linearly, I'd search through the entire book for the ending I wanted, then painstakingly reconstruct a diagram of all pages leading to that point, before starting to read. (In my husband's words, I "kobayashi marued the book.")
I used to think that I was doing it "wrong," but now having read through a Choose Your Own Adventure as an adult, I'm not so sure there is a way to do it wrong.
As a kid, I was treating Choose Your Own Adventures as puzzles to be solved -- or as challenges to be conquered -- and in doing that, I was playing to my strengths (big picture, structural thinking) and learning the value of identifying the future you want and mapping out the steps to get there. For other kids who went through linearly, there are other lessons: how to make a choice and live with the consequences, how to admit a mistake and pick yourself up to try again, how to weigh options and manage risk, or simply how to think about things from different perspectives.
Or, you know, they're just fun.
The Magic of The Unicorn contains 32 unique, perfectly passable fantasy tales, some of which are dreamy, others of which are brutal and horrifying, but all of which are engaging, however you choose to adventure.
January 3, 2023
Like all CYOA books, The Magic of the Unicorn allows you to become the protagonist and create your own outcome based on a series of choices you must make that lead you in different directions. These books were incredibly popular when I was a child, and unlike most of the CYOA options that featured boys in the title role, this particular book's protagonist was a girl. Plus, it was about a unicorn, so double win. However, what made this book so memorable for me, and why I chose to revisit it as an adult (besides getting it was Christmas gift from my beloved) was one particult story arc within this novel stuck with me long after I read it as a child. The heroine is looking for a unicorn to help purify hertown's well. In one set of choices < spoiler > the girl must complete a ritual known as the Circle of Wishes in order to summon the unicorn. This requires her to abandon all her wishes in her life. As she does so, a circle of unlit stones will begin to light up. Once the last stone is lit, she'll find the unicorn. At first this is easy--she abandons her wish to be taller, to own a horse. But it gets progressively more difficult and the things she is forced to let go of are more precious to her. Eventually, only one store remains dark, and she realizes she must give up her wish to live. She does so, and in turn *becomes* the unicorn. < / spoiler > Holy Jesus, did this MESS with my head as a kid. Like severely. Like I don't want to blame the author for all my childhood issues, but this book definitely caused some trauma, especially as a kid being raised in an environment that fostered severe codependence! Rereading it as an adult, it just comes off as a childhood story, but it was probably the most influential book I read as a kid, just not all for the right reasons.
July 5, 2020
La serie de Elige tu propia aventura es, literalmente, un clásico de nuestra infancia. He releído algunos, años después, y me parecen un poco cortos de miras, limitados en las posibilidades, pero cuando tenía 10 años cada uno de ellos era una maravilla lista para ser explorada hasta que hubiera dado todo lo que tenía dentro.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
September 28, 2023
In 1985 Bantam Books Inc. released Deborah Goodman’s interactive novel “The Magic of the Unicorn.” Her book requires young readers to choose from 27 different conclusions based on a storyline about a medieval 1507 environmental disaster in Flanders,Belgium. The Flanders village has a community water well that is severely contaminated; and because of a severe drought many villagers experienced sufferings and high death rates by drinking the contaminated water. A water purification solution must be quickly found. The reader is the central character of the book and is asked by author Deborah Goodman to decide how to resolve the disastrous situation. Can the well water be purified by sorceresses, magicians, horned unicorns, metal craftsmen, amazing purification tapestry knitters, or miracle workers, to mention a few? Each character succeeds or fails based on decisions the reader makes. The book allows the reader to be “.,.the star of the story” and choose a strategic approach to solve the contaminated water dilemma. These approaches either work and resolve the problems or they fail in a very miserable way. Our daughters and their friends enjoyed reading many of the books in the Bantam Choose Your Own Adventure series. The “Magic of the Unicorn” book is a wonderful family reading experience. (P)
September 6, 2019
A quick read which has the reader take the on role of the only hope to save their village from certain death due to a polluted beyond repair water supply. Your friend Marie-Claire gives you a magical talisman then sends you on a quest to obtain a magical unicorn horn to restore the water supply.
Before you leave for the quest, you confirm with Marie-Claire the town riddle needed to find the sorceress. Even if you find the sorceress, will she be able to restore the water supply?
By taking various twists and turns, the reader may encounter a sorceress, a fire-breathing dragon, a warlock and duchess who all stand are prepared to stop you from saving your village. Will you be brave and smart enough to save yourself and your village?
This was a fun, enjoyable book and reminded me of how much I loved this book genre as a child and teen. As with all choose your own adventure books, I also enjoyed that there were twenty-seven different possible endings based on the choices you make throughout the story.
Before you leave for the quest, you confirm with Marie-Claire the town riddle needed to find the sorceress. Even if you find the sorceress, will she be able to restore the water supply?
By taking various twists and turns, the reader may encounter a sorceress, a fire-breathing dragon, a warlock and duchess who all stand are prepared to stop you from saving your village. Will you be brave and smart enough to save yourself and your village?
This was a fun, enjoyable book and reminded me of how much I loved this book genre as a child and teen. As with all choose your own adventure books, I also enjoyed that there were twenty-seven different possible endings based on the choices you make throughout the story.
July 10, 2022
This is a great example of fantasy—covering so many of the popular tropes, and as a CYOA. In this story, there are multiple ways to fail in your mission and to die, but also multiple ways to save your village either by finding the unicorn or just its horn or some other solution. It was like a solo Dungeons and Dragons campaign, and I ended up staying up past my bedtime to read all the different endings. It made me feel like a kid again! (Just like that potion in one of my favorite endings in this book!)
“Choose Your Own Adventure” stories are still popular with kids (and hey, adults too!) Their fast pace and interactive nature makes them a fantastic choice for reluctant readers or just as a palate cleanser for any readers.
Librarian tip: We recently moved all our CYOA book to a “series” since there are multiple authors, genres, etc. and we have seen their circulation increase dramatically!
“Choose Your Own Adventure” stories are still popular with kids (and hey, adults too!) Their fast pace and interactive nature makes them a fantastic choice for reluctant readers or just as a palate cleanser for any readers.
Librarian tip: We recently moved all our CYOA book to a “series” since there are multiple authors, genres, etc. and we have seen their circulation increase dramatically!
September 15, 2018
Well, my last ending was unsuccessful and a death for me, how sad.
This was my first CYOA book and I really enjoyed it! I got it for the unicorn but I liked the paths without the unicorn too. It's so interesting to think about how a single, seemingly simple or insignificant decision can change your entire life. Too bad life isn't a CYOA where you can go through every path!
And yes I did do all 27. And write the sequences down as I went. And map them out using the chart on the back cover.
Idk if I'll have the energy for any more of these. Well, after the other adult one I have checked out (My Lady's Choosing).
Coincidentally, while I was reading this, (9/12) my work friend showed me a website where you can write/program your own online interactive text adventure game. How fun! I've been working on one. :)
This was my first CYOA book and I really enjoyed it! I got it for the unicorn but I liked the paths without the unicorn too. It's so interesting to think about how a single, seemingly simple or insignificant decision can change your entire life. Too bad life isn't a CYOA where you can go through every path!
And yes I did do all 27. And write the sequences down as I went. And map them out using the chart on the back cover.
Idk if I'll have the energy for any more of these. Well, after the other adult one I have checked out (My Lady's Choosing).
Coincidentally, while I was reading this, (9/12) my work friend showed me a website where you can write/program your own online interactive text adventure game. How fun! I've been working on one. :)
June 25, 2018
I haven't read a choose your own adventure book since I was a kid. It was fun to go back and read one again.
The story is fairly simple you're on a quest to find a unicorn in order to purify the well in your village which is the only source of water due to an extended drought in the land.
Of course in half the endings you die and in the other you live. Sometimes to return to your village, sometimes not.
Since I am older, it was easy to predict which choice would lead to success, still it was fun to see how many ways things could go wrong.
The artwork was cute as well. I did enjoy the pictures.
Overall I enjoyed revisiting the CYOA experience, and would recommend others go back and try as well.
Recommended? Sure
Buy/Borrow? Borrow
The story is fairly simple you're on a quest to find a unicorn in order to purify the well in your village which is the only source of water due to an extended drought in the land.
Of course in half the endings you die and in the other you live. Sometimes to return to your village, sometimes not.
Since I am older, it was easy to predict which choice would lead to success, still it was fun to see how many ways things could go wrong.
The artwork was cute as well. I did enjoy the pictures.
Overall I enjoyed revisiting the CYOA experience, and would recommend others go back and try as well.
Recommended? Sure
Buy/Borrow? Borrow
October 2, 2019
Yet another re-read. I adored this series as a kid and hands down the most memorable of those I devoured was this one. Because I was a typical girl and I loved unicorns. Still do, actually. And although this was not a Masterpiece of Great Literature by any stretch (the writing was pretty terrible, tbh), I'm giving it four stars for The Nostalgia Factor. Because it was so much fun to revisit. And guess what! I still remember my way through the choices in order to escape the story unscathed by dragons, griffins, evil wizards, and the plague!
Wish I could have found the issue with the original artwork, however (the one with the girl wearing a red dress on the cover). Because those are the illustrations I remember from back in the day.
Wish I could have found the issue with the original artwork, however (the one with the girl wearing a red dress on the cover). Because those are the illustrations I remember from back in the day.
January 26, 2025
I owned this book as a kid who loved all things unicorn. My sister surprised me at Christmas with a copy. Over vacation I pulled it out, and it sure took me back.
Chose your own adventure books are like having 1 book with 15 or so variations on a story. Its funny that sometimes an innocuous decision leads to insta death by spider or miraculously f ih nding a magic chalice. There is no real right or wrong ending. I took time flipping through it yo enjoy them all. Some endjngs were more satisfying than others due to the tougher choices or decisions or fantasy of it all.
Id definitely recommend for a kid in 2nd-5th grade and any adult wanting a fun hours time to consider the paths less taken in life and how simple chouces can sometimes lead to big changes.
Chose your own adventure books are like having 1 book with 15 or so variations on a story. Its funny that sometimes an innocuous decision leads to insta death by spider or miraculously f ih nding a magic chalice. There is no real right or wrong ending. I took time flipping through it yo enjoy them all. Some endjngs were more satisfying than others due to the tougher choices or decisions or fantasy of it all.
Id definitely recommend for a kid in 2nd-5th grade and any adult wanting a fun hours time to consider the paths less taken in life and how simple chouces can sometimes lead to big changes.
June 13, 2020
Ah, the joy of nostalgia! I have great memories sitting with my knees tucked in on the floor of the public library as a kid gobbling up these Choose Your Own Adventure books! My daughter and I went through about five different endings with this book and now she can't get enough of them. One fun moment was when she was having trouble deciding and I defaulted to my "there are no wrong choices" response when she has trouble making a choice. We turned the page and found out we were DEAD! (haha) We both had a good laugh and I told her, "oh yeah - with these books, there ARE wrong choices so be careful!" and then we turned back and tried again :)
June 7, 2023
I read this a my night time wind down book for a couple weeks. I’ve been working on reading physical books more. This was a super great way to ease into it. It’s 100% for kids; there are illustrations and the text is pretty large. You read the intro then decide your choice and go to the certain page for that choice. There was so much fun and whimsy in reading this book. If you want to sit down and read it in one go you definitely could finish pretty quickly, but I was reading only a little bit a day. Which sort of adds to the fun in my opinion. The best part is you can re-read it over and over and make different choices to make it a whole new story!
February 14, 2020
My seven year old daughter Loves this book. She keeps reading it to make different choices and have different endings. The best was when she adopted a baby unicorn. It is quite dark, too, though. I let her watch Harry Potter, and we joke about scary Voldermaught, so the scary endings in this book were no problem for her. Suitable for adults too. I'm a writer myself, and have been wondering about writing a choose your own style space opera. That would be cool.
May 20, 2023
Another classic, fantasy-themed Choose Your Own Adventure book that was a lot of fun to read. Read through it five times before I decided to move on. Here are the endings I got:
1. Fell out out of a church steeple and broke both of my legs.
2. Found a sweet magic goblet.
3. Turned into a unicorn? (wtf)
4. Found the unicorn and saved the village.
5. Crushed by a cave-in.
lol, I don't know. These books are fun.
1. Fell out out of a church steeple and broke both of my legs.
2. Found a sweet magic goblet.
3. Turned into a unicorn? (wtf)
4. Found the unicorn and saved the village.
5. Crushed by a cave-in.
lol, I don't know. These books are fun.
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July 6, 2025I honestly don't think I read this particular one as a kid, I never owned any of them, just read them at the library after I had picked the books I was checking out and was waiting for my family to be ready. But I own the t-shirt for it as both a relaxed fit and a pajama top, so I felt like I ought to have the book. It's a pretty good one, though I feel like the greater number of endings is less of a selling point, I kept hitting a quick end and having to go back.
July 30, 2025
Read this to/with my daughter, letting her pick and choose each choice, sometimes going back after an ending and exploring the opposite choice! She really HAD to find that unicorn! Haha 🦄😂 Eventually we did! She especially loved the spiders in one of the scenarios. 🕷️🕸️😂 I'm sure she'll pick it up again and again to explore even more ways to end the story! 💗
Overall, a fun & engaging way to read with your kids, I wish I had known about and read these as a child myself! ☺️
Overall, a fun & engaging way to read with your kids, I wish I had known about and read these as a child myself! ☺️
November 9, 2019
On this book I gave it a 5/5 star rating because first of all you get to choose your own adventure like how cool is that. Also it goes by pretty fast. Deborah Lerme Goodman is an amazing author who creates all these different endings that don't make the story boring. You could re-do the story many times with different decisions and you could still have fun.
August 25, 2022
Being a 2nd-person point of view book, the plot and endings vary. I, on one occasion, found the sorceress, was given a magic net, fell asleep and woke up to find the unicorn standing over me. The sorceress made a potion to turn the unicorn into a baby, which saved the unicorn, who then purified the village well, and was adopted as village mascot.
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