Never Girls – Finding Tinker Bell 3 – On the Lost Coast

Kiki Thorpe's Never Girls adventure On the Lost Coast is a magical, slightly spooky fairy story for 6 year olds about four girls searching for Tinker Bell on a very strange island.

What happens

Kate, Lainey, Mia and little Gabby found a secret way into Never Land, where they've made friends with the fairies of Pixie Hollow. Now Tinker Bell has gone missing. The girls and four fairy friends have followed the clues to Shadow Island, and they're completely lost.

Then they stumble onto a foggy beach covered in toys. Lunch boxes, kites, dolls, odd socks. Kate finds her very first softball with her own name on it. Gabby finds BowBow, the toy dog she lost when she was tiny.

It's the Lost Coast, where lost things end up. What a brilliant idea for a story! Who wouldn't want to find their favourite old toy again?

But the beach has a pull to it. The girls start filling bags and backpacks with things they don't really need, and forget what they came for. Kate even throws their precious fairy dust over the piles so they'll be easier to carry. Before long they're arguing, and nobody's quite sure how to get off the beach.

There's a lovely thread about Kate. She's the brave one who always takes charge, and here she learns what happens when she only thinks about getting her own way (a two-headed coin is involved). It's gently done and very relatable for any child who likes to be the leader.

The fairies each get their moment too. Silvermist meets a muddled troll who has lost his name, his home and his way, and some of his riddles are funny. There are a few shivery bits, like dancing lights that try to lead the girls out to sea. Nothing lingers too long, though, and the friends keep pulling together.

What to read next

This is the third Finding Tinker Bell book and follows straight on from the last one. To go back a step, Through the Dark Forest has the girls flying out over the Never Sea to look for Tink's little boat.