Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Magic Kitten #1

A Summer Spell

Rate this book
Lisa isn’t excited to spend the summer in the country with her aunt, but just when she thought her summer was going to be lonely and boring, she finds a tiny orange kitten in her aunt’s barn. Suddenly her summer looks much brighter!

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

89 people are currently reading
1274 people want to read

About the author

Sue Bentley

185 books163 followers
Sue was born in Northampton where she still lives. For many years she worked for Northamptonshire libraries and remains a passionate supporter of Public Libraries. Sue loves everything about books, the feel of them, their smell. the way they look. And has a habit of matching a bookmark to the cover of each book she's reading. The process of reading, the feel of the book, carrying it around in her shoulder bag, sitting in favourite cafes reading all make for a complete sensory experience.
Browsing bookshops old and new, talking all things bookish with other book lovers, spending time with other writers and meeting with fans of her own books at author events are her favourite things. That and eating good quality dark chocolate, while writing.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
731 (54%)
4 stars
289 (21%)
3 stars
204 (15%)
2 stars
72 (5%)
1 star
56 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
Profile Image for Natverse.
479 reviews65 followers
December 6, 2016
If you didn't think The Lion King could get any weirder, you are wrong. Take talking animal kingdom and replace Simba with Simba 2.0 or Prince Flame, and you have yourself a magical lion on the run from his uncle. It basically is the classic tale you remember, but with a lot more serious topics.

1. Racism against Romany gypsies. We learn halfway through the story that certain white men of privilege, in the village, are pointing fingers and blaming the Romany men for poaching deer. Did no one think a sketchy and unfamiliar van, with a driver that drives like he wants to kill all pedestrians, was suspicious?

2. Kids driving ponies on the wrong side of the road. He almost caused his pony to be seriously injured and our MC could have DIED. Thank kittens that Prince Flame was with him.

3. Guns and violence. These poachers are some kind of serious about poaching if they are willing to off some kids along the way.

4. Infanticide and dethroning. It's not very clear how old Prince Flame really is, but it is clear Uncle Ebony (racist!) wants to kill him and take over his throne, and Flame isn't strong enough to take him on. Every family has its problems, I guess.

After outlining these serious issues in the first book of what promises to be a long-lived series, it is hard to imagine children appreciating the complexity of it all.

JUST SAYING.
Profile Image for Jaime.
1,032 reviews1 follower
May 30, 2014
My 5 year old daughter and me read this together and she so fell in love! This is her new favorite book and she can't wait to read the next one! It's magical, funny, and sincere all at the same time!
Profile Image for Erica Henry.
79 reviews85 followers
February 10, 2021
I enjoyed this story a lot more than I thought I would. This is basically about a ten year old girl named Lisa who goes to stay with her aunt for the week while her parents make a trip to the United States. She ends up finding this cat named Flame that ends up being more than meets the eye. This book is full of magic, adventure, and friendship. I highly recommend it.
Profile Image for Renee .
408 reviews708 followers
July 18, 2016
This review consists of two parts: 1. my review (Mom's), and 2. my daughter's review of this book.

DAUGHTER SAYS: Once upon a time there was a kitten..."meow"; except it wasn't really a kitten, it was a magic lion named Prince Flame. There was an evil lion named Ebony who was his uncle who wanted to kill him because he wanted to be the ruler of the kingdom. So, Flame goes into the human world to hide from his uncle and he meets a girl named Lisa. Lisa is spending the summer at her Aunt Rose's house while her parents are away. She thinks that it's going to be a horrible summer until she finds Flame. When she meets Flame, Flame thinks she's a monster and Lisa is scared because Flame talks, but then they figure out that they are both nice. Lisa and Flame meet John and they start hanging out together andthey solve mystery of the poachers. Flame has to go back to his own world at the end of the book.

What I liked and disliked about it: I really like the pictures of the kittens on the front cover of the book and I like the story. I liked it when Lisa and Flame first meet because they have no idea what each other are and are scared of each other. I wish I had a magic kitten so that I could talk to it secretly and I could hide it in my desk at school so that it could tell me the answers to the math problems. At first John was mean but he turned out to be nice. It was cool how John's Grandma knew that Flame was magic so Lisa could share her special secret with someone. It was a bad idea for Lisa to sneak out of her aunt's house at night to go take pictures of the poachers. She could have been caught and kidnapped or shot by the poachers. But maybe it was a little bit safer because she had a magic kitten to protect her. I didn't like that the kitten was really a lion because I wanted it to stay a cute little kitten.

My bottom line: I like the Magic Kitten stories a lot. I have read many other ones and they are just as good as this one. I like that there is a different colored kitten in each book and they are all super cute. I would recommend this book to my friends who are girls. Boys probably wouldn't like them because the main characters are always girls.

MOM SAYS:

Magic Kitten, A Summer Spell is the first book in the Magic Kitten series written by British author Sue Bentley. The Magic Kitten series are distinguisable by their book covers featuring a different and completely adorable kitten on each, all with emerald green eyes. The premise of the series is that Prince Flame, a young white lion and rightful heir to the Lion Throne in another world, is on the run from his evil Uncle Ebony who killed his parents and claimed the throne for himself. Ebony is chasing Flame trying to kill him in order to stay on as the ruler of the kingdom. Flame cannot match the strength of his uncle, therefore he escapes into the human world disguised as an adorable kitten. In each of the books, Flame meets a different young girl who is in the midst of some crisis. For example, in the first book, A Summer Spell, Flame meets Lisa who unwillingly has to spend the summer with her aunt when her parents go to America without her. In each of the books, the kitten and the girl help each other through their troubles and in the end, they part ways with the understanding that their connection was only meant to be at that moment in time.

What I liked and disliked about it: Both my kids love the Magic Kitten books to the extent that when we got two kittens, my son decided to name him Flame (even though he's completely black). Not surprisingly, when people come to our house, meet our cat, and ask his name, we usually get a puzzled look when we say "Flame". Apparently most people expect that the name Flame is most appropriate for an orange cat. But, really Flame was named after the adorable kitten in the Magic Kitten series. Oh, and by the way, in one of the books, he is a black cat!

I agree with my daughter that the book covers are absolutely adorable. I'm a real sucker for a cute kitten. Sue Bentley provides the key ingredients to a story that is a sure winner with the demographic it intends to target, namely middle grade girls. You can't go wrong combining a young girl suffering from a sense of injustice caused by her parents, a cute kitten who talks and performs magic, and a mystery in which our young girl rises to become a hero. All the Magic Kitten books follow this formula: it works! In fact, I would say that one thing Bentley does really well is to create intrigue - chapters usually end with relatively dramatic cliffhangers.

I didn't much care for Lisa, the young girl in this particular book. When we first meet Lisa, she is shockingly rude to her aunt. Upon their first meeting Lisa tells her aunt the following:

I didn't want to come here. Mum forced me to stay with you.


Her aunt Rose is unbelievably kind and patient:

Well - I'd better make sure you enjoy yourself then. Long Brackby may not compare with America but it has a lot to offer.


Aunt Rose totally rocks in this book - - she is just a really cool aunt! She completely understands that her niece is upset with the situation (her parents going off to America without her) and reacts to her with such compassion that I am left quite impressed. I'm not sure that Lisa ever completely redeems herself in the story. She still disobeys her aunt throughout the story putting herself in grave danger.

Which brings me to two issues I have with this book:

1. I have a problem with, what I feel, is a loose plot. We see Lisa beginning to treat her aunt with more respect and to start acting more responsibly once Flame enters her life. I was a bit surprised when Lisa decided to disobey her aunt and sneak off after dark to explore the mystery of the poachers in the surrounding woods. I felt like this was not a logical place for the plot to go given Lisa's changes in attitude THAT VERY DAY and given the promises she made her very generous aunt. It seemed that the plot took on an illogical direction out of convenience so that the rest of the story could make sense.

2. Call me crazy (well, not to my face), but what 10 year old girl would go in the woods after dark with the idea to take photographs of poachers (i.e., MEN WITH GUNS)? I'm a little alarmed that this was treated as not such a big deal. After all, Flame the magic kitten and the equally irresponsible neighbor boy John were there to protect her. Right. Couldn't the mystery have been who is stealing the Angorra rabbits her aunt is breeding? Or who is putting sugar in everybody's gas tanks? Or anything not involving firearms? It felt a little heavy for a Magic Kitten book. The rest of the books (as far as I can remember) don't involve the same level of danger (I think). Then again, every Magic Kitten book starts with a Prologue detailing how Uncle Ebony wants to kill his nephew Flame ... hmmmm ...

My bottom line: Well, I can't NOT recommend a book based on a kitten after which my kids named their kitten, can I? The kids really enjoyed this book as well as the other books in the Magic Kitten series. All the books include a young girl as the main character, but my son enjoys the books regardless. This is a very easy read - - I read the book in less than 30 minutes - - therefore it is not much of a challenge for 8+ years old. Nonetheless, the stories are intriguing and they are quite heartwarming. I can fully appreciate and understand the appeal of having a secret loyal and magical friend (especially in the form of a cutie pie little kitten) at a time when you are experiencing turmoil in your life. It is quite simply...magical!

Come visit us at our website: www.motherdaughterbookreviews.com
Profile Image for Sharon.
35 reviews1 follower
January 6, 2017
My only criticism of this book is that the cover doesn't accurately reflect the content. The cover, with its giant-eyed kitty on a background of sparkly stars, looks like it's going to be a Rainbow Magic-like read for 2nd and 3rd graders looking for something gentle and sweet. But the story is darker and the issues more complex than that. Flame, an orange kitten, is really a lion prince in disguise, on the run from an uncle who wants to kill him and usurp the throne. 10-year-old Lisa, visiting her aunt in the English countryside, finds Flame in the barn and immediately bonds with the kitten. She is astonished to find that Flame can talk and perform magic -- such as making her invisible, doing the dishes in a twinkling, and healing a horse's leg.

This is a well told, interesting story, but here are some of the book's darker elements: the poaching and killing of deer -- including a scene where Lisa encounters deer carcasses -- guns and gunfire, an evil uncle tracking down his nephew in order to kill him, and prejudice against Romani gypsies. I was pleased that Lisa showed growth in how she came to appreciate her aunt's kindness, and enjoyed the charming setting, the suspenseful story, and the warm relationship between Lisa and Flame.
Profile Image for Renee.
58 reviews1 follower
September 23, 2014
Obviously I was much, much younger when I read these books...

If you've got a younger brother or sister, or a child, I'd highly recommend these books for children up to about age 11. The storylines were imaginative and fun, while the words weren't too difficult to process. Kids with love the adventures of this little kitten (who's actually a lion prince hiding from his uncle).
Profile Image for Dora.
55 reviews
February 3, 2018
ova knjiga me jako iznenadila i toliko oduševila da sam joj dala 5 .😉
Profile Image for Alicia Evans.
2,410 reviews38 followers
May 20, 2016
This is another book in my quest to explore different juvenile series. This series is extremely popular and I can definitely see why. This book presents that there is such a thing as a magic kitten who's really part of a grandiose royal conspiracy plot. Add to it the fact that the kitten saves the girl from a boring summer in the country and you get instant excitement. I had a difficult time liking the girl--I found her rude and manipulative in a way where her age could not excuse such behavior. Regardless, I understand the draw for early readers. The book does have a good deal of suspense and adventure, and I wasn't always sure what kind of magic the kitten would do next. I'm intrigued by the grand plot though and how that will work throughout the series. I'm not sure if I will read all the books, but you never know.

For: early readers; kitten fans; readers looking for fantasy and adventure; readers wanting wish fulfillment.

Possible red flags: talking back to adults; poaching animals; magic; obvious prejudice toward a group of "travelers/gypsies" on part of the police.
Profile Image for WonderWoman.
17 reviews10 followers
March 29, 2015
My sister (she is 7 but at the time was 6) read it and thought that it was the best thing in the world and my parents and I had been trying to get her to read for months. I thought, "If this made her want to read then I had better read it so be can get more books that she will read. For a while she only read fantasy because that was the only genre that she liked. Now she is reading non-fiction as well but only about kittens.
1 review1 follower
April 17, 2013
This book is so great I read it over and over that's how good the book is I love the book magic kitten
8 reviews
April 26, 2025
When I was younger I was searching for a good book to get me into reading. This book is technically the loin king. I enjoyed the book. Overall I think this is a good book for cat lovers.
Profile Image for Bailey.
13 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2019
it was a good book. It was pretty good. my favorite part was the little kitty that got scared. that Lisa got to the woods.
Profile Image for Sarah.
924 reviews5 followers
August 12, 2016
When her parents dump her with her aunt Rose in the countryside, Lisa is sure her summer is going to be awful. The television only gets four channels! Luckily, she soon meets Flame, a magical lion prince masquerading as a kitten to avoid being killed by his uncle. Flame uses his magic to help Lisa complete her chores, befriend a local boy, and evade the murderous poachers hunting in the nearby woods. The combination of excessively adorable and startlingly violent is a curious choice for this, or really any, age level.
Profile Image for Laura.
40 reviews
August 28, 2021
Note as of 08/28/21

I read a lot of the books in this series as a child and I loved them! I'd say good books for third - fifth graders depending on reading level.

(having gotten a Goodreads account as a child, I added a lot of the books I read back then to my list - I have ultimately decided to keep them on my shelves because I like seeing my reading history)
Profile Image for Liz.
599 reviews1 follower
July 23, 2014
From an adult perspective, this book was terrible. It was painful getting through all 127 pages. Painful. About a magic kitten who befriends a girl. But nothing exciting happened and the magic part didn't really come into play. This series could be appealing to some kids, I guess. But I will definitely not be stocking my bookshelves with any more of these. So glad it's over.
Profile Image for Mo.
470 reviews
June 19, 2015
This is the 1st book club book I am reading with my 7 year old. I wished there was more vocabulary words other than "poached", but at least there was 1. I really didn't want to read this book, but I couldn't say no to my child when she picked it out. I'm glad she did. I look forward to talking about it with her.
Profile Image for Sita.
167 reviews18 followers
October 7, 2012
Simply a cute read. I got this for my little daughter and ended up reading it myself as I'm particularly fond of cats and of course kittens. She loves it too. So I think any young reader who love cats, a bit of magic and some adventure would like this one as well.
Profile Image for Rylan Hayes.
23 reviews
September 11, 2017
It was amazing the idea of the book is just mind blowing the book is so good
Profile Image for Allison Miller.
6 reviews5 followers
September 22, 2017
Five stars for childhood!
I used to be so picky with what I would read so I was a struggle for my mom to get me to pick a book to read for fun. That was until I discovered the magic puppy and kitty series. I loved the covers and the stories were so fun! Not to mention, I loved the magic kitty series more since cats are my favorite animals.
I remember reading these books all day and how excited I was to write book reports on books I ACTUALLY enjoyed. Now, I have little cousins to pass this stuff down to and give them the joy and imagination I had. I totally recommend these books to every kid who loves kitties or puppies, they'll enjoy them, I still love them as a teenager!
Profile Image for Rebecca Cecil.
412 reviews75 followers
April 14, 2020
This author is an awesome author she writes both books for kids and adults. This book was a very cute book. Prince Flame is a white young lion he will one day be king in his homeland when he is stronger but for now he hides fron his Uncle Ebony because his uncle wants to kill him sohe himself willbe king. So Flame disguises himself as a tiny kitten. In this book a girl named Lisa goes to stay with her Aunt Rose in the country. Lisa knows she is going to be so bored. Even more so when she finds out her aunt has no TV, no microwave, no dishwasher. But one day Lisa finfd Flame a little furry kitten. She and flame bond.she soon finds out Flame is no normal kitten.
Profile Image for Liana.
688 reviews36 followers
January 21, 2017
A book about a.... MAGICAL KITTEN???? Are you serious?
Yes. :D

Really cute story. It does suffer the annoying 'whiny city girl having to live in the country' cliche that I hate so much, but who cares. The story is adorable.

While the book is clearly geared towards girls, I can't see why boys wouldn't like it, as it has some intense moments and that the cute little kitten on the cover is actually a LION! (No spoiler.)

Rawr.
Profile Image for Bekka.
1,320 reviews15 followers
November 17, 2017
This was cute! A fast read for those still struggling with their reading skills, and a story that will be of interest to most girls. Who wouldn't want a magic kitten?? Parents may find it a bit tedious, but I can easily see girls reading the whole series. The ending sets the story up nicely to continue, yet is contained enough and resolves satisfactorily so that the book stands on its own as well. Fun!
Profile Image for Shinyfox.
254 reviews16 followers
May 21, 2018
Surprisingly good. Simplistic, as expected of a child's novel, but a fun and quick story. I felt like the book was more centered around Lisa than on Flame. The way the prologue went I thought it would be Flame that the story centered on with Lisa being his companion and side-kick. But it really felt like Flame was there just to get Lisa out of trouble or make things easier for her. Would have been more entertaining if the story had focused more on Flame and his backstory and troubles.
Profile Image for Susan.
351 reviews4 followers
August 31, 2020
When Lisa gets sent to stay with her aunt while her parents take a business trip, she is grumpy. But then she meets a magical orange kitten named Flame. But Flame is actually a young white lion who is supposed to take the throne in his own world hiding from his uncle’s spies for safety. Shortly after she meets John and his horse fly as they are trying to discover who the deer poachers are. Oh the adventures Lisa finds herself on!
Profile Image for Anne.
288 reviews4 followers
July 13, 2017
I think this DRA 34 will hold the interest of younger readers. I found it enjoyable, though a strange mishmash, or should I say rehash, of other favorites. Think Lion King meets Mary Poppins in a pastoral English setting (complete wirh gypsies) and a Hardy Boys type mystery to solve. Throw in lots of super-cute, cuddly kittenness and you've got our story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.