[Book Tour] A Unicorn Named Rin – Crystal Z. Lee

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Synopsis

The royal phoenix is missing from the Tang dynasty palace! Princess Pingyang is worried. Can Rin the unicorn find Fan the phoenix? Together with her friends—dragon, tiger, and tortoise—Rin embarks on a journey to mystical lands in China. Along the way, Rin discovers the value of teamwork and the warmth of friendship.

A Unicorn Named Rin celebrates the wonder and beauty of Chinese history and culture. This exquisitely illustrated picture book makes an ideal read for children 3-8 years old:

Easy-to-read vocabulary enables confidence in early readers
Whimsical illustrations encourage imagination in all unicorn lovers
Storyline fosters dialogue around collaboration, empathy, and kindness
Real locations in China make for an inspiring geography, history and cultural exploration adventure.

Review

This is a different review because, believe it or not, I am not between 3 and 8 years old ?.

It is true that it’s an easy-to-read story, which makes it good for building confidence in children, but it could also be useful for a person who wants to start reading in English. I think it is good advice to start reading children’s books to practice another language.

Returning to the children, this is a nice story of friendship, in which the importance of teamwork is shown. However, what really makes it an amazing book for me, are the locations.

Rin and her friends must search for Fan, the royal phoenix, throughout various locations that stand out for some special reason. At the end of the book, Crystal provides an explanation of each of these places and their true history.

Also, Princess Pingyang seems like a great addition to me. It’s amazing that you can introduce it to your child in this story, so that later he or she knows it was real and becomes even more inspiring. She’s like a new Mulan (in a role model sense, I don’t know much about Chinese history and I don’t pretend to act like I do).

In short, it’s a wonderful Chinese culture bath, delivered in the most subtle, but no less effective way. In addition, the contribution of the illustrations is magical. It is personally what convinced me to read the book.

Author

Crystal Z. Lee is a Taiwanese American bilingual writer. She has called many places home, including Taipei, New York, Shanghai, and the San Francisco Bay Area. She was formerly a public relations executive who had worked with brands in the fashion, beauty, technology, and automotive industries. “Love and Other Moods” is her first novel.

You can find her here: Goodreads – Instagram –Amazon

A little more about the book:

A Unicorn Named Rin by Crystal Z. Lee
Publisher: Balestier
Release Date: April 22nd 2021
Genre: Children’s Books, Illustrated, Own Voices
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository | B&N