Kelp knows he’s always been a little different than the rest of his family. His tusk isn’t as long, he likes different foods, and he’s not a good swimmer. When a strong current brings Kelp to the surface one night, however, he sees a creature that looks just like him, standing on a cliff over the sea. Kelp summons his courage to leave the water, finds his coordination, and goes after the creature.
He finally finds a whole herd of them, which he adorably calls “land narwhals” before being corrected by one, who tells him they are unicorns—“And by the looks of it, so are you!” They introduce him to unicorn culture and show him what unicorns do with their horns (spray rainbows).
Missing his sea friends, though, he heads back home, wondering if he will still be accepted now that he is a unicorn. His friends throw him a welcome home party, and when he tells them he is a unicorn, they tell him they already knew. Under the sea, however, he missed his unicorn friends. Did he want to be a land narwhal or a sea unicorn? In the end, he realizes he doesn’t have to choose, and can live happily in both worlds, encouraging his friends to come and play where land meets sea.
There’s no obvious queer inclusion in this adorably illustrated book, but many have seen it as an analogy for being nonbinary. I’m therefore tagging it that way so that folks seeking such representation can evaluate it for themselves.
