Fairyland is home to seven colorful sisters. Together, they are the Rainbow Fairies! They keep Fairyland dazzling and bright. But when evil Jack Frost sends them far away, the sisters are in big trouble. If they don't return soon, Fairyland is doomed to be gray forever!
A magical book sweeps Rachel and Kirsty away to the Land of Sweets. Could Inky the Indigo Fairy be waiting there for them?
There are just two more fairies to go in the Rainbow Magic: Rainbow Fairies series: Inky and Heather. In Inky the Indigo Fairy, Kirsty and Rachel manage to stumble upon another one of them, and you get three guesses which it is.
Inky the Indigo Fairy, however, offers up a more unique and magical story than most of the other installments. Within the first few pages, Rachel and Kirsty find themselves being drawn into an indigo-covered book--literally. As it turns out, the book acts as a sort of portal to the Land of Sweets, where the two human friends meet Wafer and Cone, two elves who refer to themselves as "the ice-cream makers". It's unclear if the book serves as a portal or if the Land of Sweets is contained within the book itself, but I suppose that's not a particularly important detail in the hypothetical minds of the very young intended audience. Still, I'm curious.
Anyway, the girls find Inky in the Candyland-esque town, and in order to get back to Rainspell Island, the three girls go to meet with the Sugarplum Fairy. After a run-in with some goblins--still no appearance by Jack Frost; maybe next time--the rather mysterious fairy helps them return.
All in all, it's leagues more creative and entertaining that the previous books. Sure, the world-building's kind of spotty, given that a lot of things aren't explained (like I asked above, is the Land of Sweets in the book? Is it part of Fairyland? What's the background on the Sugarplum Fairy?), but it's great to finally see something new and exciting happen. I really hope the later Rainbow Magic books work more along the lines of this installment, exploring the fictional world of the fairies, elves, goblins, and whatnot instead of focusing on rounding up apparently helpless fairy girls with the help of cute critters. And I'd love to see this Land of Sweets get fleshed out some more.
So I'm eager to finish Rainbow Fairies, and thanks to Inky the Indigo Fairy, I'm a bit more excited about starting Weather Fairies than I expected to be. While it's not the most fascinating series, Rainbow Magic is shaping up to be a solid, if extremely simple, series for (very young) fairy fans.
