Jess Hernandez debut book, FIRST DAY OF UNICORN SCHOOL, illustrated by Mariano Epelbaum, comes out January 1, 2021 from Capstone.
Milly is incredibly excited to go to Unicorn School, a school that accepts only the best and the brightest. There’s only one problem: she isn’t a unicorn! She’s a donkey in a party hat. Milly first feels uncomfortable but eventually learns that she and the others at the school have more in common than it might have seemed.
Jess is a former children’s librarian and middle school English teacher. She lives with her husband, three kids, and a dog is a soggy little house in western Washington.
Find her on Twitter @FinkHernandez
Website: https://mariano.artstation.com/
Mariano Epelbaum is a Character Designer, illustrator and traditional 2D animator. Working professionally since 1996 in various disciplines of Animation and Illustration where characters that designs tend to be very expressive and original.
First Day of Unicorn School
By Jess Hernandez
Illustrated by
Mariano Epelbaum
Review by
Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews
First, I want to thank Jess Hernandez, Capstone and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
Jess Hernandez did an incredible job with her debut children’s book First Day of Unicorn School. What little girl or big kid at heart like myself doesn’t just adore unicorns?! She knew just how to attract our attention in that aspect. Well done.
Mariano Epelbaum needs to be commended not only for his amazing cover design but all of the graphics in the book. The colors were bright, bold and just popped out. His graphics just made the story come to life all the more. Infact, there were times his graphics made me crack up!
Jess threw in some very important hidden messages within the pages. Messages that everyone needs to hear this day in age. Even us young at heart. The way she executed it was perfect.
I really do hope that she continues to write children’s books. My other hope is that she sticks with Mariano because he is incredibly talented and they both make a great team together.