Benjamin EllefsonRecensioni

The Land Without Color: Book 1 by Benjamin Ellefson is a Young Adult/Juvenile story about Alvin, his twelfth birthday, and an unexpected fantastical journey. Two presents, a packet of Never Pop Gum from his parents and a pocket knife from Grandpa Otto begin the adventure. The first thing you do with a pocket knife is to test-it, cutting and scraping, and using it as sword. With bubble gum you blow a bubble; Alvin's first bubble lifts him into the clouds and when the gum pops he landed in a grey landscape. Finding his way home again, with helpful squirrels, mice, lions, and princesses, and seeing colors again, is the rest of the story. In the end Grandpa Alvin gives the pocket knife to his grandsons. The book was fun, well written, and pleasant. Good detail, images to express the story, and the relationships Alvin builds add to the story. Recommended to Juvenile readers.

I won a kindle version #GoodreadsGiveaway

I won a kindle version #GoodreadsGiveaway

I won a kindle version #GoodreadsGiveaway

This was a great story with a great moral. I enjoyed reading it immensely. I would recommend this book to any middle grade reader... In fact, I'm recommending it to my daughter right now.

The Great Sugar War stands alone as a fun middle-grade modern fairytale, and connects pleasingly with the author’s earlier Land Without Color. Not a sequel. Not strictly a prequel. But a story in the same land involving a member of the same family, a pleasingly zany tale, and a nicely thought-provoking one. As the kingdoms of Color and Shapes take aim at each other in an everlasting war. Talking grasshoppers and lions might be reminiscent of Narnia, but this is a whole new world and a whole new story. Just don’t eat anything too sugary while you read.

A fun, fast, modern tale with an interesting protagonist and great characters, plus food for thought (which surely is better than sugar)… a good read for middle-grade readers, and especially for boys.

Disclosure: I was asked to look for this, found it on a deal, and enjoyed it.

Benjamin Ellefson writes fairy tales that are fun for kids and thought-provoking for adults. In The Land Without Color he introduces an everyday boy, living a contentedly everyday life, then sends him, via the gift of a knife, to a very strange place. Black and white images provide visual clues to events in the tale, and detailed descriptions bring everything to life, from how to make a fishing rod to how to escape from jail. Solutions are imaginative and fun, and the contrast between real color and fake, where fake is seriously tempting, is cleverly portrayed. The story invites thought, not just on an adult’s part, about what we allow ourselves to be tempted by, and how easily we believe what we are told. When laws come before common sense and listening, danger looms. But the hero will win through, as he surely should in fairytales.

Disclosure: I was asked to look for this, found it on a deal, and enjoyed it.