Apparently, the Rainbow Magic franchise is not only a series of sub-series, it also includes a whole bunch of "Special Edition" books. As far as I can tell, Special Edition books are like 3-book mini-series bound together in one book. Each series book has 6 chapters and is about 65 pages long. Each Special Edition book has 3 parts, each part has 5 chapters, and the total number of pages is around 160. I found a couple Special Edition books at the library to keep Isabelle reading while we wait for the next series books to become available.
The premise is the same as in all Rainbow Magic books. Rachel and Kirsty are called upon by their fairy friends in Fairyland to help find missing items that Jack Frost has stolen and cast into the human and/or fairy worlds. Jack Frost's goblin servants try to thwart the search efforts. All the familiar components are here, including helpful wildlife and adventures experienced while fairy-sized.
Despite the formulaic storytelling, I have to admit, I am continually impressed by the way the same basic confrontation is placed within new contexts. The manner in which the lost item is hidden and the method by which the goblins are foiled are always different. If the stories themselves are repetitive, I still think it takes a lot of imagination to come up with so many new scenarios! Of course, I haven't read every book in the series (and I probably won't...), so I don't know if some ideas are eventually recycled or not, but, for me, so far so good.
In this book, Rachel and Kirsty are visiting Kirsty's grandmother, who lives by a beach. Jack Frost has stolen 3 enchanted pearls, and Shannon the Ocean Fairy asks the girls to help find them. Each 5-chapter part of the book is dedicated to finding one of the pearls.
Unfortunately, for the first time, I felt that inconsistencies bothered me. In other Rainbow Magic books I have read so far, I was always able to suspend disbelief and allow for various magical solutions. This time, though, some of the "problems" encountered just felt too contrived. At one point, the girls are magically transported from the beach by Kirsty's grandmother's house to Hawaii along some kind of magic current created by Shannon. Basically, they travel super fast. Yet, later, when they need to chase the goblins, they are unable to swim fast enough. Why can't Shannon create another magic current to make them go faster? Alternatively, why couldn't Shannon magically give the girls and herself flipper feet so they can swim faster, as Jack Frost did for the goblins?
At any rate, Isabelle was not bothered by any such concerns, and she gave this book 5 stars, just like the other Rainbow Magic books she has read. Additionally, this book had an extra bit of fun to further engage the reader. Seven letters were hidden throughout the book, and when unscrambled, they spell out an ocean-related word. Isabelle had fun looking for letters, diligently keeping track of them on a piece of paper, and trying to figure out the special word.
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