A children's fantasy story set in the magical world of Lunora, Story of Summer is a sequel to Story of Spring. It follows the siblings Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, who control the seasons through a magical crystal ball. When the crystal ball shatters, they set out on an exciting adventure through jungles, ruins and underwater kingdoms in their search of finding the Enchantress, the only one powerful enough to fix it.
A children's fantasy story set in the magical world of Lunora, Story of Summer is a sequel to Story of Spring. It follows the siblings Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, who control the seasons through a magical crystal ball. When the crystal ball shatters, they set out on an exciting adventure through jungles, ruins and underwater kingdoms in their search of finding the Enchantress, the only one powerful enough to fix it.
The Seasons: Story of Summer by Anna Garnet contains six short chapters filled with magic, suspense, action, adventure, and teamwork. The book's main characters are Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter: siblings from the Season Kingdom, Lunora.
The Seasons: Story of Summer takes readers on a quest as the season siblings search for a map that'll lead them to the Enchantress. The need to find her is great since she's the only one who can restore the shattered crystal ball. Without her magical help, magic might disappear forever.
As the four siblings enter the jungle, readers will meet a curious monkey, a friendly tiger, and a wise elephant who can speak. The elephant assists the children by giving them a ride to the temple, where a map awaits to direct them to the Enchantress. I loved the illustration of them riding atop the elephant's back. I know from personal experience there's nothing quite like it.
As the children enter the abandoned temple, they are met with twists, turns, and drawings that help them figure out the path to take to the map. I wish there were drawings of the puzzles they had to solve. I also would have liked to see the scene of them carefully walking across the chasm. The added visuals would've created a more dramatic scene, adding a layer of suspense. Also, the author missed the mark by not including an image of the opened map. Let us see what the children are so fascinated by. Let readers feel like they are a part of the journey.
In chapter four ("A Way to Cross the Sea") and chapter five ("The Underwater Kingdom"), I wanted to see inside the sub since Autumn considered it "one of the coolest things I've ever seen." There were also no illustrations for the merfolk, the road paved with seashells and blue-green glass, or the enormous white castle. Since the prologue states Summer has become friends with dolphins, I think an image of him and the others riding on the dolphin's backs would've been an one that most children would've enjoyed seeing.
I liked how the Enchantress ensured the siblings were worthy of magic before helping them. She stated anyone who receives the magic should be brave, compassionate, and intelligent; they were all demonstrated as all three things.
While I think the book could benefit from more drawings of important events and characters, the picture of the Enchantress fixing the crystal ball was lovely. I adored the color choices.
The Seasons: Story of Summer is a nice book that would appeal to young readers who enjoy magical, adventurous stories.
It needs another round of edits and maybe more work visually, but it's still a story that I would recommend to parents with children aged eight years and older.
Review submitted on 12/28/22.