by Kiki Thorpe
illustrated by Jana Christy
Random House 2013
In a Blink is the first book in Disney's new early reader chapter book series, The Never Girls.
When Kate hears the tinkling of bells while she's playing soccer at school, and Lainey catches sight of a flock of flamingos flying overhead, and Mia smells the sea even though they are miles from the ocean, things begin to seem a little odd. Then Mia's little sister Gabby runs off to chase a fairy and when the three girls find her they are all whisked away "on a blink" to Never Land!
Tinker Bell, Queen Clarion, and all of the other fairies are surprised to see them, and get right to work on a plan to return them to the homeland before the magic island drifts too far from shore.
But the girls are delighted to be in the land of the fairies and are not eager to return home right away. Kate is determined to find a way to return to Never Land, so it doesn't take much convincing for Vidia (the fairy they've been warned about) to convince Kate to steal enough fairy dust for the two of them to fly higher and farther than all of the other fairies, and still have enough left to return to Never Land in the future.
Of course, things don't go exactly as planned, and the stage is set for the girls to continue their adventures in Never Land in the next episode of the series.
The black-and-white illustrations by Jana Christy are perfectly delicate and detailed to evoke the miniature land of the fairies.
In a Blink is written on a second grade reading level, but I think it may appeal even more as a read-aloud to younger children who are more likely to retain a sense of wonder about tales of fairy magic.
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Kiki Thorpe has written some of the bestselling books in the Disney Fairies chapter books series, including The Trouble with Tink. She lives in San Francisco.
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Renée Vaillancourt McGrath has worked at Montana Public Radio as a program host since 2002. Her background is in librarianship and she currently works as a freelance editor, blogger, and website developer. Check out more of her book reviews at reneesreads.com.
