Publisher: MacMillan Children’s Books (2013)

Author: Julia Donaldson

Illustrated by: Lydia Monks

When I picked up this book from the library, I already knew it would become a favourite of my kids. There is a horse, a unicorn, a farm scene, a mermaid, a merry-go-round and loads of glitter. What can go wrong? My 1 year-old + especially loves the touch-and-feel texture of the glittery parts.

The story follows the interaction between a rocking horse Sugarlump and a unicorn that kept granting Sugarlump’s wishes by turning him into a different “type” of horse whenever Sugarlump feels discontent with his life. Sugarlump wished that he could be out in the big wide world, so the unicorn “pawed the ground and tossed her mane”, and “flashes her eyes of blue”; and upon turning around seven times, Sugarlump became a farmer’s horse. The kids’ eyes brighten up seeing the farm illustrations. It is a scene from my four-year-old’s boy other favourite “What The Ladybird Heard” series. We saw the familiar sheep with “real” wool, the prize cow, the farmer, and of course, our lovely ladybird!

When the loads became too heavy, Sugarlump wanted to gallop free, so the unicorn turned him into a racing horse. And of course, as expected, life became too tough and Sugarlump wished he could dance. So the unicorn turned him into a circus horse. “Ohh, the pictures! That’s from “the Singing Mermaid” book!” Shouted my 4 year-old in excitement. Those who have read the “Singing Mermaid” would know that Sugarlump would not love the circus for long (even the Mermaid had escaped in that other book), so the unicorn turned Sugarlump back into a rocking horse.

(Spoiler alert) This is the sad part. Sugarlump was left in the attic because the boy and girl had both grown up and forgot about their favourite toy. Came the controversial line “I wish I had never been born!”, which generated quite some negative feedbacks and reviews about this book, although my kids have never commented about this line, and neither do I think the line would have caused any negative thoughts in their little brains.

The unicorn ended up turning Sugarlump into a fairground horse on a carousel, where Sugarlump was apparently happy and exclaimed “this is the life for me”. The kids love the ending, but secretly, I doubt that Sugarlump would be happy for long.

I like the book because it is glittery, magical, fun, well-written, rhymes and flows well in the usual Julia Donaldson’s style. I do wonder however whether all horses would end up sad and unhappy like Sugarlump because no role seemed to be perfect (seeing Sugarlump’s track record, I think he is going to get dizzy and bored soon turning round and round at the same merry-go-round, listening to the same old music).

If I were the unicorn, I probably would turn Sugarlump into a wild feee Mongolian horse that gallops without restraint. Or I might turn him into a police horse, keeping the society in order and peace, covering the ground for search-and-rescue operations. I think Sugarlump might find this life more challenging and meaningful.

Overall, I wish Sugarlump can be a more “positive” horse that sees good thing in what he has, but I understand this is just a children book for some fun and magical touch. My kids (and I believe many other kids too) love the book, so I guess it has achieved its aim.

P/s: this is a library copy