Unicorn Academy 4 – Isabel and Cloud

Julie Sykes' Isabel and Cloud is a Unicorn Academy story for 7 year olds about a girl who needs to win at EVERYTHING.

What happens

Isabel is sporty, quick and loves a dare. Her unicorn, Cloud, is sweet, patient and careful. He's not the fastest, and six months into the school year he still hasn't found his magic.

Isabel can't stand the waiting. She has Cloud stamping at a pile of sticks in case he can make fire. Secretly, she wonders if she's been given the wrong unicorn altogether.

Then she's picked to lead Sapphire dorm in the drill ride competition. They win the trophy. But Isabel has bossed everyone about so much (and made Layla jump fences she's frightened of) that nobody feels like celebrating. Isabel is honestly baffled. They won, so what's the problem?

Her best friend Scarlett tells her straight. People's feelings matter too.

Things get worse from there. A prank on mean Valentina gets Ava blamed, Isabel owns up, and the headteacher warns her she could be expelled. Then it starts to rain and doesn't stop. The lake creeps over its banks and the whole school might be sent home.

Reading it is a bit like watching your most competitive friend work things out the hard way. Isabel isn't always easy to like! You see her jealousy and her showing off, and the moments she's quietly terrified, like halfway up a rickety ladder she only climbed because of a dare.

That's what makes it so satisfying when she starts to change. She gives a nervous friend a choice instead of an order. She stops minding who gets there first.

Cloud is the quiet hero. He talks her down that ladder rung by rung. On a beach full of sinking sand he's the one who can feel where it's safe to step.

There's some real peril later on, with two friends trapped in a sea cave as the tide comes in. It's tense but it moves fast.

Got a child who finds losing very hard? They might see a little of themselves in Isabel. Her friends and Cloud stick by her anyway.

What to read next

If they'd like more of Isabel, Scarlett and Blaze is the book where her best friend gets the story. Isabel is right there from the first page, holding up a jump that's much too high.