 Today we celebrate the book birthday of Agent Unicorn We sat down with Musa Jenny Alvarado to learn about the inspiration behind this story. Tell us a little bit about the book: In Agent Unicorn, Unicorn longs to be a cool, case-crackin’ undercover agent, just like his hero, Agent Sparrow. And he’s finally gotten his big break—a job at Agent Goat’s Detective Agency! True, he might be sweeping the floors for now, but it’s one step closer to his dream. When Unicorn intercepts the case of a missing pet bird, he leaps into action! He’s sure he’s ready to be a detective even though he has no actual experience. With the best disguises and coolest gadgets, how hard can it be? But before long, he’ll discover that there’s more to being an agent than sneaky moves and looking cool. He’ll have to track down the humility and heart of a true detective and avoid getting distracted by the annoying bunny that keeps following him—a bunny that might just bear some resemblance to the missing pet—if he ever hopes to officially become Agent Unicorn. I am intrigued. How would you describe your main character? Why did you create your character that way? Agent Unicorn is silly. He thinks he can be a great agent and at first is very confident about it. In the first versions I was imagining my son who always feels like he knows best and can do anything on his own. He later evolved into what he is now which is a bit oblivious of others and focused on his goal a little too much. Where did you get the idea to write this particular story? Agent Unicorn was inspired by my son. He had an obsession with detectives and spies when he was younger. One day, I was drawing a unicorn for national unicorn day and he asked if I could make him one. So I drew him a spy unicorn and that’s what sparked the idea for Agent Unicorn. Can you share your path to publication for this book? This book had so many rewrites. In the beginning, Agent Unicorn never left the office and was being followed by an actual child. Eventually, it evolved to more of what it is today. This was one of the first dummies that I showed my agent and it was the one she was drawn to first. After some tweaks, it went on sub. It went on sub pretty fast and sold pretty fast. I was not expecting it and was pleasantly surprised. What message are you hoping readers will take away from this story? I want readers to find the funny first. That was my reason for writing it. I want kids to laugh. I also want them to feel like they can and should follow their dreams. Just make sure you’re not hurting others in the process. What comes next for you as an author? I have a couple of books coming out this September 2024; Agent Unicorn and Pencil & Eraser. May 2025 the second book of the Pencil & Eraser series along with my picture book, Fridays Are for Churros, which will be published in English and in Spanish. I am also working on another project that has not been announced yet that I’m excited to share about.
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