Sock Sack Mystery: Raine's Rainbow Socks: Raine's Birthday Socks by Richard Ditchburn

Raine's birthday party is a big success. Her guests love the food, and she has a tempting pile of beautifully wrapped pastel presents to open!

But among the gorgeous gifts, there is a simple purple fabric bag. Inside is an intriguing note from Granddad Dougie.

"These socks are in the colours of the rainbow. They are magic socks.

When you need to solve a mystery, you just have to wear one of the pairs of socks--making sure they are a matching pair--and close your eyes. If you then think about the mystery, the solution will come to you."

Raine is a girl of admirable restraint and patience. Telling no one about the magic socks, she waits her chance to try out a pair.

But she doesn't have to wait long. On Monday, she eagerly watches the paperboy dropping something in her next-door Grays' mail slot. Today is the day she gets her favorite comic book! Her house is next, but strangely, the paperboy walks on, right by her house. She tells her mother.

"I'll phone," says Raine's mummy helpfully."

But there's no record of a comic book for Raine at the newsagent's office.

"It's a mystery! says Raine's mummy.

"A mystery! That means that it's time to try out my rainbow socks," Raine thinks to herself.

She puts on the pair of red socks and sits down with her eyes closed.

When Raine opens her eyes, she finds herself standing on the front doormat of the Grays' house. She watches as her missing comic is pushed through their letterbox.

Aha! The delivery boy delivered her comic to the house next door! Mystery solved, and Raine is soon reading her new book.

It's too bad there aren't thousands of colors in the rainbow to find all the missing items in our lives, but at least Raine will never forget the color RED, in Richard Ditchburn's Raine's Rainbow Socks: Book 1: Happy Birthday Raine, Red Socks, Orange Socks (AuthorHouse, 2015). While most kids of Raine's apparent age know their colors already, this quirky little tale may offer some help in learning the order of colors in the rainbow, a bit of science lore that is less well known. With eye-catching cartoon illustrations by Dwain Esper, this new series offers other mystery situations, all with the proper color of socks as a magical sleuthing device waiting for Raine in the new Raine's Rainbow Socks series.

Be prepared to explain the few minor Britishisms that may raise questions from young readers, e.g., in Great Britain, "Mummy" means "Mommy," not a linen-wrapped Egyptian!