The Great Sugar War is a wonderfully imaginative chapter book by author Benjamin Ellefson, the second book in the Land Without Color series. The story of Benjamin and his ancestors is vividly brought to life, thanks to the talents of illustrator Kevin Cannon. It’s the perfect book for the young reader delving into a more advanced chapter book.

It all starts innocently enough. In class one day, Brandon’s teacher asks her students to tell her what caused the Great Grayness. Although Brandon hadn’t done the required reading, he feels confident that he knows the answer to her question and eagerly raises his hand to respond. When he’s chosen by his teacher, Brandon offers his response, his voice swelling in pride as he tells everyone the pivotal role his grandfather’s heroic efforts played in everything. Instead of being impressed by his answer, everyone laughs at him. To make matters worse, Brandon’s teacher is angry with him after he insists that he’s telling the truth and she sends him to the office. Rather than going to the office, Brandon sneaks out of school to his grandfather’s house to persuade him to go back to school with him and convince his teacher that he’s telling the truth. The only problem is that when Brandon gets to his grandfather’s house, Grandpa Alvin is nowhere to be found. What Brandon does find at his grandfather’s house is a hand-drawn map of the Kingdom of Color and in the center of it is the Color Factory, which had a pivotal role in the Great Grayness.

Charming and imaginative, The Great Sugar War is a wonderful adventure about Brandon’s great-great-grandfather Otto as a twelve-year-old boy and the pivotal role he played in helping his friend, General Droww, defeat the sugar soldiers during the great war between the Kingdom of Color and the Kingdom of Shapes. Young Otto is a particularly resourceful boy who wins over everyone he meets, from the hapless Droww and the stoic Aunt Nellie to the mighty lion and the twin girls, Gwendolyn and Sapphire. From the Red Berry Forest, Vegetable Valley and Grasshopper Fields to grasshoppers needing their sugar fix and nasty gnomes, Ellefson’s story is jam-packed full of imagination and adventure at every turn. However, The Great Sugar War has more than just a great adventure. It has heapin’ helpings of resourcefulness, from Otto’s quick thinking in the face of insurmountable odds, to Aunt Nellie’s seemingly endless supplies in her ever-present bag, to some important life lessons like the importance of eating fruits and vegetables and remaining true to your friends. The illustrations, in varying shades of grey, leap off the pages, seemingly charged with the same energy as the characters depicted in the story.

The Great Sugar War is the perfect tale of good versus evil with colorful characters sure to engage, and a cliffhanger at the end that will have young readers eagerly clamoring for the next installment in the Land Without Color series.

The Great Sugar War by Benjamin Ellefson is a children’s fantasy novel and the second novel in the Land without Color series. The Great Sugar War brings alive a magical world of imagination, mystery, and adventure as once again we meet fantastical beasts and creatures. The Great Sugar War begins with Brandon, a young daydreamer, sitting in his classroom in the back as usual. However, when the subject in the classroom turns to The Color Factory, he speaks up as the events involve his past and family history. However, when he is not believed by his teacher and classmates, he decides to take matters into his own hands and prove the facts. Thus starts our adventure as he follows the trail. We then take a path down history into a war of the Army of Color and the Kingdom of Shapes meeting the fantastic sugar soldiers, the grasshoppers, the gnomes, and many more in the kingdom.

The Great Sugar War by Benjamin Ellefson is a fantasy novel and the characters are completely imaginary and out of this world. That being said, I thought the writing style made this book engrossing and entertaining even though some of the events and characters are so outside of real life. The illustrations are fun and colorful and add to the charm of the book. The thing I enjoyed most is the sheer range of imagination and outlandishness in this book that actually makes it very fun and creative. This is a great book for children and even young adults to read as it not only tells a thrilling and fun tale, but also conveys the message of hope under all circumstances, and the importance of courage and being true to oneself which is especially useful for young readers.

The Great Sugar War by Benjamin Ellefson is the second book in The Land Without Color series. While history dictates that the Great Grayness was caused by goblins beyond the Shadow Mountains, Brandon knows that the snakes drained the color from the land in order to take control over the people. After he discovers an old map of the Kingdom of Color at his grandfather’s home, Brandon is determined to find the Color Factory himself and prove that the story he knows is far from fiction. When Brandon finally finds the Color Factory, he also finds a book titled The Great Sugar War, which tells the story of his great-great-grandfather Otto and the real story of the great war between the Kingdom of Color and the Kingdom of Shapes.

Sugar soldiers, shape soldiers, giant grasshoppers, and a factory full of gnomes are only the beginning of the creatures and characters you find within the pages of The Great Sugar War. With beautiful illustrations that capture the adventure and excitement of the story, The Great Sugar War by Benjamin Ellefson is a fun and engaging book for readers of all ages! While this book is part of a series, it is readable as a standalone as it primarily serves as a prequel to the first book in the series, The Land Without Color, and will be continued in the next book, The Collapsing Kingdom. Ellefson is a master when it comes to world building, creating a complex universe of creativity and imagination that will have you hooked from beginning to end.

The Great Sugar War by Benjamin Ellefson is the second in a children’s sci-fi story, telling us what happened before The Land Without Color. Twelve-year-old Otto is lost at sea, alone, when he lands at a strange place. A place with no color, where everything is just gray. Otto soon gets caught up in a war between two kingdoms – Shapes and Color. To beat Shapes and finish the war, Otto has to be smarter than the War Inspectors, fight the Sugar Soldiers, and get away from the Gnome Factory, as well teaching the grasshoppers why it is so important to eat vegetables! Can Otto succeed or will gray color the land forever?

The Great Sugar War by Benjamin Ellefson is a lovely book for kids, well illustrated and a really good story. I didn’t read book 1, but I found this one easy to follow and kept up with the story. It isn’t just a story; it presents young readers with challenges that they can learn from, a good idea because it gets kids thinking and teaches them how to solve problems. The story flows well, the pictures help, and it has enough going on to keep a reader interested. It is a story that clearly comes from a very creative and imaginative mind and that shows in the telling of this tale. The characters and the plot were very well developed and I would highly recommend this to any young reader as a way of learning a few lessons in life early on, as well as enjoying a great tale.