Goldilicious

Pinkalicious

by Victoria Kann

This enchanting follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Pinkalicicous and Purplicious brings to life a new and magical Pinkalicious's pet unicorn. Enjoy this hardcover picture book with Pinkalicious fans and all young readers enchanted by unicorns! With heaps of creativity and a touch of sparkle, Goldilicious glows—from horn to toe. Being Pinkalicious is pinkatastic, especially when she's accompanied by her unicorn, Goldilicious. Goldie is a roller-skating, kite-flying, high-jumping unicorn who will protect Pinkalicious from the silly wizardry of her little brother, Peter. Together, Pinkalicious and Goldilicious can conquer anything!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Unicorns, Kids, Fairy Tales

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2009

About the author

Victoria Kann is the award-winning illustrator and author of the picture book series featuring the whimsical and effervescent character Pinkalicious. Victoria coauthored and illustrated the first two books, Pinkalicious and Purplicious. In addition, she cowrote Pinkalicious: The Musical and wrote and illustrated the #1 New York Times bestsellers Goldilicious and Silverlicious. Currently she is working on several more books about the adventures and antics of Pinkalicious. You can visit her online at www.thinkpinkalicious.com.

Reviews

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by my 5 year old

*Audiobook edition*

"Can I tell you something? There was a unicorn named Goldilicious and Pinkalicious was pretending to be a princess. I loved it."

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay. Let me just say that I was prejudiced against this book just based on the cover. But, it is on the bestseller list so I was curious...

The idea behind the story is okay--that it is fun to have an imaginary friend. It's very girly with princess dresses and a unicorn names Goldilicious wearing rose garlands--so it might appeal to girly-girl types. But the story is told in the most boring and rambling manner. And the little girl is SO annoying, she and her brother have typical antagonistic relationship, and she is a bit rude to her parents in the end. And the illustrations are (IMO) childish in a lame, cartoony sort of way.

Apparently this is a sequel to a book called "Pinkilicious" about the little girl (rather than her unicorn) and that has a different author (same illustrator) so I may have to check that one out to see if it is better--perhaps people are buying this expecting a similar quality. It frightens me that THIS is a best-seller in its own right.

[Amarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was behind on my reading goal

I was out of options

[Abigail · Rating 1 out of 5]

That pink-loving little girl, whose story began in the eponymous Pinkalicious , and then continued in Purplicious , returns in this third picture-book devoted to her (rather bratty) adventures. This time, the theme is pretend play, and Pinkalicious enjoys a day of make believe with her imaginary friend, Goldilicious the unicorn. Pinkalicious' brother Peter also gets in on the action, kidnapping the unicorn, who escapes and is transformed into a mermaid (sort of). Despite these contretemps, at the end of the day Pinkalicious discovers that her friend is waiting for her at bedtime...

Like its predecessors, Goldilicious is a hot mess: poorly written, poorly illustrated, and poorly thought out. I continue to find Victoria Kann's artwork flat and unappealing, and her heroine intensely unlikable. While I understand that young children don't always exhibit the best behavior, I find it odd that Pinkalicious' lack of respect for her elders (as in previous stories, she is rude to her parents here) and for her home (she makes a mess, playing in the living room) is never really addressed in the story. This sort of thing - issues going unresolved in the story - seems quite common in these books. As mentioned in previous reviews, I am reading this entire series for a work-related project, otherwise I probably wouldn't have continued past the initial title, given how unimpressed I was with it. That said, I think if anything the quality of storytelling has decreased, as I've read through subsequent books. There are infinitely better stories out there about girls and unicorns - try Uni the Unicorn , for starters - and it is to such titles that I would direct readers, rather than to these books. Not recommended.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does anyone else find that reading reviews is sometimes more entertaining than the actual reading of the book? This is especially true with a lot of children's books.
This book mentions the "potty". Heart attack alert! The book has a character that - jokingly - "imagines" the parent(s) as an evil sorcerer. I bet if an experiment was conducted murderers have had a book like this in their part at some point!
I can't get over how uptight people are - namely parents. Get over it! With all of the things wrongs with this world - this country - and all of the things we have to worry about is the word 'potty' seriously that bad? Does that really even make it on the scale of worrisome things?
Believe me, I'm all for calling out things that need to be called out. Read my reviews are any genre and you'll see that. But I tend to only do this with it's necessary. Not over a bathroom joke. Not over dumb things.
I can't count the number of times I've played imaginary games with my daughter where I'm the witch or dragon or some other evil characters. Just as I can't count the number of times I've been a good witch or a queen or some good character. And the same can be said - both ways - about her. Check back in 15 or 20 years - I doubt she'll be a murderer/pervert/molester/etc.

Now I'll put these idiotic things out of my mind and concentrate on the book. This is one instance when a book actually deserves the praise it gets. Don't get me wrong - it's nothing to scream about - but it's a good book, with good characters, in a good series, by a good author with great illustrations.
Pinkalicious has a fantastic imagination which I believe should always be encouraged. I loved the joke about Peter stepping in unicorn poop. (This is mostly because I don't have any sticks up my butt.)
I love the playful, back and forth banter between Pinkalicious and Peter also. Kann really came up with some good but simple stories with the series and she definitely has talent with illustrating.
It's funny to me that I'm about as average as one can be in almost every way and that I love the parts of the book that make others get their panties in a twist. I'm a fantastic Mother but average in almost every other way - no different from the rest - yet I'm able to laugh at these things (right along with my daughter) that make some others so very uptight. I'm pleased that I reserve my worrying and frustration for things that are worthy of such feelings, unlike the word 'potty' or an imaginary game.

[Sally Linford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goldilicious is Victoria Kann's third book in this series. We loved Pinkilicious, but after reading a few Amazon reviews of Purplicious, I thought we'd get this from the library before buying, and I'm glad I did.

Let me start by saying that, once again, the illustrations are fabulous. Really amazing with vibrant colors and quirky angles. It's a pleasure to turn the pages. In this story, the Pinkilicious princess has an imaginary pet unicorn who dances in the Majestic Magenta Ballet. Kann layers the a musical score (the written notes) into many of the drawings with a very cool effect. My 5 year old picked up on it.

So much fodder for a great story! But the text is painful, trying too hard to be funny, hitting closer to esoteric and pedantic.

Am I the only one tired of potty humor in children's books? It's such a distraction from real humor and a real plot.

Tragically, on page 2, Goldilicious drops a unicorn pie in the living room. I'm not kidding.

"Oh, Goldie--you shouldn't have done that on the floor!"

Ok, not so terrible, but can she leave the bomb at that one not-so-subtle line? No, she keeps shoveling, "You know better. Just neigh when you need to go to the potty."

Think we're done? Nope.

"'I'm sorry, Peter [little brother:], but you are stepping right in it,' I said."

The rest of the story is disjointed, imaginary play that comes to nothing but more conflict with her brother. No transitions or explanations when play goes from Wizard in a tree house, to pirate walking the plank, to mermaid, then floating in the sky.

My 5 year old couldn't follow the story--rare for her--it was weird.

Worst line of all: "Goldie, where did you go? Have you become one with the universe?"

Second-worst line(after her parents have called her in for bed): "Perhaps Goldie is hiding from the mean sorcerers who have come to take me to the dungeon."

Do my kids need any help imagining me as an evil witch? Please!

But, don't forget, these are seriously fun illustrations.

So, here's my suggestion: get the book from the library. Tell a different, fun story using the pictures. (David is expert at this.) The parents can be fairy helpers, the brother a comrade in arms. Whatever. Just do your own story and make it shorter.

That's my 2 cents.

Ciao!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books about Pinkilicious just keep coming...but unfortunately the first in the series is by far the best. She just needs to stop while she is ahead. This one is better than Purplicious but still lacks the originality and fun of the original. Hannah loves all the fancy pink stuff...tutus, dancing skirts, tea parties, etc. and you can't go wrong with a fancy unicorn. But as a parent, it is dull to read and the writing is a little choppy.

[Megan M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I just really don't get this series. The story wanders to point that I didn't really care what happened. The main character is just obnoxious and her brother was even worse. Again, I have never read the original Pinkalicious, but I will definitely be avoiding it after being disappointed with this and Purplicious.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, it is all about reading books to grandchildren. Magical moments.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goldilcious is the third book in Victoria Kahn's picture book series about pink-loving Pinkalicious, a spirited girl who loves the color pink. Pinkalicious The title captures the same whimsy present in the first book (Pinkalicious) that I felt was lost in the second installment, Purplicious. The art, once again, is beautiful, girly, and most of all, pink! The storybook world of unicorns, princesses, and more come across in pastels very well.

Goldilicious features Pinkalicious' new pet unicorn, Goldilicious. Although imaginary, Goldilicious has many talents, including roller-skating, tea parties, hide-and-seek, and more. Together, she and Pinkalicious fend off Pinkalicious' brother as he threatens to interrupt their magical moments. But then Goldlicious goes missing and Pinkalicious looks high and low before finding her in the perfect spot.

An aspect of the story I loved is how how the brother taunted his sister about Goldie, then eventually became drawn into Pinkalicious' fun.

I'd recommend this to Lauren Child and Kevin Henkes fans, little girls who love pink, and anybody who enjoys some magic. You can peek at some of the images using the widget below. Goldilicious is out in hardback now.

Review originally published at brimeetsbooks.com

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Goldilicious by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann, Pink's brother, Peter finally comes into his own as a character. The title character is an imaginary unicorn that only Pink (and sometimes Peter) can see.

Although Pink wants to play by herself as a princess with a magical unicorn but little brother Peter wants to play too.

It's fun to see how Goldilicious changes over the course of a day of Pink and Peter playing. She goes from just being invisible to being able to roller skate, having a mermaid form and all sorts of other magical abilities.

As with the previous two books, my kids and I love the collage style illustrations. On a second or third read through the book, take a moment to enjoy the different textures that make up the backgrounds. There are always snatches of words, musical notation and other details that enhance the pages without competing with the story or the characters.

We bought our copy from a local book store. I have nominated Goldilicious for a 2009 Cybils in the fiction picture book category.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

This skates on the edge of saccharine. And I somehow doubt that a kid in a princess dress with an imaginary unicorn has been exposed to anything deep enough for her to use the phrase "One with the universie".

But,I like the creativity of Pink's mind.I like the way her brother joins in her imaginary play the way boys will and how she readily adjusts her game to suit him. And of course pink, princess clothes and unicorns will be perfect for all the little Haileys and Madisons and Isabellas that come into my library.

I liked the first two books better. But this one will be popular and useful. And it makes me gag less than the umpteenth "Fancy Nancy".

[MrsKhaje · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was definitely better than Pinkalicious and Purplicious. The little girl uses her imagination in this book. I do not like the way she responds to her parents at the end. Yes, it is a normal response for a child, but when I read my daughter a book, I'm looking to instill good behavior, good attitude and good manners. True to life books are great for teenagers and adults, but while they are still young and learning, I appreciate books that illustrate good behavior, etc.

From a little girl's point of view, I'd say my daughter would probably give it 4 stars.

[DivaDiane SM · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not one I would've chosen for my son, but his very pink and princess obsessed friend found it for him at the library and he wanted to read it and liked it enough to want to take it home. I would say the story is cute if it didn't so thoroughly reinforce gender stereotypes. Why can't a little boy have fun with an imaginary unicorn as pink's brother refuses to do?

[Arminzerella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute illustrations - Goldilicious (the unicorn) is quite fetching. Didn't care for the story, which was all over the place (but, so are kids' imaginations). There are a bunch of books in this picture book series, now. Pinkalicious, which I haven't read, is the first (perhaps the best?).

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been trying to teach my 4-year-old that in a good story, the characters all have problems that they try to solve by the end of the story. (So when Nemo gets lost, don't worry. He HAS to get lost so he has a problem to solve by the end of the story, otherwise it would be a really boring movie.) This book proves my point. Pinkalicious has no real problem to solve in this book (other than she's a whiny little brat, but she doesn't solve that problem), so there's no real story.
I was also very frustrated how in Pinkalicious, little brother Peter likes pink, in Emeraldlicious they work together, in Purplicious, we're reminded how much he likes pink, but in this book, everyone falls into stereotypical gender roles. He crashes her tea party with his worm, tries to steal her unicorn, and is a general nuisance. Meanwhile, Pinkalicious is talking back to her parents & telling her brother he just stepped in imaginary unicorn doo.
And what's up with the page where she's looking for her unicorn & asks, "Did you become one with the universe?" The computer-generated illustration behind her is a cloud unicorn. How am I supposed to explain that one to a preschooler?
Overall, a very disappointing read.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it's a Pinkalicious book. Bright colors (pinks so bright you need sunglasses) and drawings in her quirky style and the girliest little girl imaginable. If you (or your reader) are not into princesses, unicorns, sparkles, flowers, etc. then this isn't the book (or even book series) for you. If you do enjoy those things, then you're in the target audience. The story itself is rather negligible - the fun of having an imaginary friend? Nothing much else really happens...

It could be used for a storytime on imagination/imaginary friends (though I prefer The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend) or for unicorns. See what would work for your audience - I know it isn't quite right for my usual group.

[Bailie Mahuna · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this book, Pinkilicious pretends to be a princess and she has a horse named Goldilicious. Pinkilicious has a brother who continues to cause trouble all throughout the day. Eventually, Goldilicious leaves and Pinkilicious wonders if she will ever come back tomorrow. In my opinion, I didn't really like this book. There were a lot of pages I felt weren't needed or sentences that I felt could have been left out. It is based on your imagination and wondering where our imagination can take us. This book did not appeal to me in any way.

[Sarah Alamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're so proud of you for reading "Goldilicious"! You learned something magical—that your imagination can turn ordinary days into amazing adventures, just like Pinkalicious and her unicorn friend. You discovered that pretend play makes everything more fun, and sharing your imaginative games with others (like your brother or friends) makes them even better. Keep using your wonderful imagination every single day to create your own special stories and adventures. You're doing fantastic, sweetheart!

[Jayma DeLancey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pre-K to early elementary
Fiction
I like how this book portrays child imagination. When reading this to younger students I think they will be very engaged because of all the description words. The plot is fun and enticing. The illustrations are very cute as well. I could see a female student liking this more than a male student. I don't think I would read this to a whole classroom unless we were talking about the topic of imagination, but I would have no problem putting it in my classroom library.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book is apart of the pinkalious series. This picture book is the story of how pinkalious has her pet unicorn goldilicious who helps her on a mission from her little brothers mischief. This book has great colors, but I don't like it as much as the other books in the series. They use a lot of imagination which is great for young kids, however, there is not a real lesson to be learned like in the other books in the series.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the third installment of the Pinkalicious series, Pinkalicious imagines she has a pet unicorn with golden hair named Goldilicious. I like the illustrations of this book, but the story is kind of all over the place and a little boring. It also has some really weird lines like one about the imaginary unicorn becoming one with the universe. I can see this book pleasing princess and unicorn fans, but it's not for me.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are growing on my but I still find Pinkalicious to be a whinny brat (at least to her parents). Goldilicious is her imaginary unicorn who she has grand adventures with. I can start to see where this series would sprout continuations and a tv series. Thank goodness I don’t have to watch it.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pinkalicous has a pet unicorn, Goldie, but no seems able to see it but her. Goldie can do amazingly wonderful things, and Pinkalicous gets to do such fun things with her unicorn. When her brother tries to join in, Pinkalicious thinks she has lost her unicorn forever. Sweet ending. Great illustrations.

[Savannah Crider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Pinkilicious series. These books are okay to me, but I think children will really enjoy them. Goldilicous is about the girl and her imaginary unicorn, children who love fairytales will probably love this book. It is child friendly with a good story line and colorful illustrations.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh I don't love the Pinkalicious sequels. Her parents always seem like such jerks, but it's clearly because it's from Pinkalicious's perspective ... and she is a jerk. I liked that there was imaginative play between Pinkalicious and Peter in this book, though I thought they were fighting at the beginning of their playtime.

[Rhyme Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when Peter, who is Pinkalicious's little brother, thought Goldilicious, who is Pinkalicious's unicorn, was in the swimming pool and her mermaid suit. And Peter thought that Goldilicious had turned into a mermaid, but she was just in a costume.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book about imaginary friends. The illustrations were really colorful and my daughter especially liked the unicorn. I really enjoyed how her brother playing with her kind of made her forget about her imaginary friend for a while.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pinkalicious has very vivid imagination! Her “pet unicorn “ Goldilicious loves to play and have adventures with her.
My daughter loves the illustrations in this book and is totally convinced the unicorn is real. Simply adorable!!

[Eliot Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet Goldie! Short for Goldilicious, the imaginary pet unicorn that belongs to Pinkalicious. Goldie can dance ballet, and roller skate, but most importantly, she protects Pinkalicious from her annoying little brother, Peter. Cute and colorful!