The Official Unicorn Daily News Holiday Gift Guide

With just one week left to finish up shopping for Christmas gifts, many of our readers are wondering what unicorn-themed gifts to give this year. The Unicorn Daily News is happy to help, with today's release of The Official Unicorn Daily News Holiday Gift Guide.

Here it is, organized by type of gift recipient. Happy Holidays!

For the Reader
Everyone ought to have a copy of the classic unicorn story, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.
If your giftee already has a copy of Beagle's book, then you might consider the new collection of unicorn and zombie short stories by various bestselling authors, in Zombies vs. Unicorns.

For the Chef
No kitchen is complete without unicorn cookie cutters, but there are lots of other great unicorn-themed kitchen accessories for every cook on your gift list: a unicorn cake mold, unicorn chocolate mold, and even unicorn corn holders!

For the History Buff

Check out The Unicornis Manuscripts, a collection of historical unicorn lore with beautiful illustrations.
Another great option is the Natural History of the Unicorn, in which the author, Chris Lavers, tracks down the roots of unicorn mythology and its evolution throughout time.

For the Artist

The Unicorn Tapestries, which are housed in the Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, are an awe-inducing work of art.  Help the artist on your gift list learn more about them with the The Unicorn Tapestries in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications), which includes scholarly explanations of the tapestries and their symbolism.

For the Movie Lover
Give the gift of a great unicorn movie for the holidays!  There are many DVDs to choose from, but a couple of our favorites are The Last Unicorn, an animated feature based on everyone's favorite book of the same name, and Legend starring Tom Cruise.







More Great Unicorn Gift Ideas After the Jump!  Click to Read More!

"Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows"

Andrew, the musical mastermind behind SongsToWearPantsTo.com, creates songs that span nearly every genre and topic imaginable - and he does it all based on his fans' requests! How amazing is that!

Recently, one of Andrew's fans requested a song about pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows, and so the song "Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing On Rainbows" was created:



Check out more excellent songs over at songstowearpantsto.com and YouTube!

Evidence of Unicorns Found in Cave Paintings?

For how long do you think humans have admired unicorns? 100 years? 500 years? Even longer?

If your answer was in the ballpark of "over 10,000 years" then you're right! Unicorns are no passing trend!

In fact, the Cueva de las Manos (known as Cave of the Hands for its paintings of hands), a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Argentina, features rock art depictions of animals that are more than 10,000 years old.  Among these very old paintings of various animals is a UNICORN! It looks sort of like a very overweight goat, but it definitely has a single horn! For more information and photos, check out the UNESCO web site and the Patagonia Monsters blog, which has lots of information about depictions of unicorns in the Patagonia region.

"The Unicorn" at Lascaux Cave, France; Image credit: N. Aujoulat, MCC-CNP at www.lascaux.culture.fr

Our other unicorny cave painting is from Lascaux Cave in France and dates back to 15,000 to 10,000 BC. It might be a depiction of a unicorn or it might be a profile of a two-horned animal; only its artist knows for sure, and he or she is long gone by now. However, it is officially known as "The Unicorn," regardless of its apparent second horn. Find out more about the Lascaux Cave paintings on a virtual Lascaux Cave tour.

Do you know of any other unicorn-themed art, prehistoric or otherwise?  Send your story to The Unicorn Daily News (unicorns.blogspot[at]gmail.com), and it will be included in one of our daily feature stories!

Honorary Unicorn: The Marvelous Unicorn Fish

Today's post features an amazing honorary unicorn that comes from the tropical seas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans! The aptly-named unicorn fish has a spiky protrusion on its fishy forehead. Both male and female unicorn fish grow these horns, but it is not known whether these horns have any function. Find out more about the fascinating unicorn fish at Wikipedia and fishlore.com.

Image credit: Naso annulatus, by Jens Petersen, via Wikipedia.