Published by Farshore, 2021.

Rainbow Grey is an incredibly special book; it was the first chapter book that I ever serialised at bedtime with my five-year-old son. It captivated him.

Nine-year-old Ray Grey lives in the magical Weatherlands, high in the sky. Ray is surrounded by Weatherlings with incredible weather power at their fingertips… but she doesn’t have ANY magic!

Then, after a trip to Earth, Ray’s life changes forever. She is transformed from Ray Grey into Rainbow Grey. With the help of her best friends (and exploding cloud cat, Nim) now all Ray has to do is master her powers and save the world from a mysterious, powerful enemy…

With Rainbow Grey, Laura Ellen Anderson has given us a wonderfully imagined world. We’re transported to a land in the sky where people can puddle-port from place to place and homes dangle suspended from clouds.

Another especially wonderful detail is all the fabulous food that’s described, especially the confectionery treats from the Rising Bun Bakery. There are pitter-patter pancakes, rumblebuns (eat them quick before they erupt) and lightning scones.

Sam and I loved Laura’s utterly brilliant black and white illustrations. Nim the cloud cat is especially cute and it’s great to see all of Laura’s inventive imaginings brought so vividly to life.

The book also has an underlying environmental message and explores what it’s like to be different and a bit of an outsider.

There’s plenty of silliness too with a farting cloud cat who explodes at every opportunity, and knicker-nados wreaking havoc on Earth!

The book itself is physically such a gloriously beautiful thing. The brightly covered rainbow-adorned cover just draws you in, and both the proof copy and the Waterstones edition have fabulous rainbow sprayed edges too!

Rainbow Grey is full of fun, friendship and mayhem. It’s the first book in a new series and Sam and I can’t wait to see what adventures are next in store for Ray and her friends!

Rating: 💙💙💙💙

Suitable for children aged 5+

My favourite part was when Ray finally got her powers. My favourite character is Nim because his face sometimes gets stuck to his bum and that’s funny!

5-year-old Sam’s verdict

Thank you to Farshore for sending me this book to review. I reviewed this book as part of the Rainbow Grey blog tour where author/illustrator Laura Ellen Anderson exclusively revealed the top five bestselling confectionery items at the Rising Bun Bakery. Click here to find out more.