The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: A Worthy Kids/Ideals Book Review

There are two big battles to be won in the life of a reader. #1 is to spark a love of reading.  #2 is to find them good books to read.  When said reader (J, 6 years old) goes from the mailbox to my bed with a new book and doesn't leave for a while, it would seem we have been victorious on both accounts!  Needless to say we were very happy for the opportunity to review the first two books in the time-traveling adventure series, The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls by M.J. Thomas, from WorthyKids/Ideals, the company that brings us the favorite children books VeggieTales and Berenstain Bears.  Like them, these two books are designed to build children's faith and knowledge of the Bible all while capturing the readers attention with mystery and excitement.

The author, M.J. Thomas, went looking for engaging books that taught his kids about the Bible.  Having no luck, he decided to write some himself!  The main characters are named after his son Peter, niece Mary and his dog, Hank.

The first installment is Book One: The Beginning, where Peter, Mary and Hank, the family dog,  are staying with their great-uncle Solomon, the archaeologist when they discover ancient scrolls and find themselves traveling through to time to witness stories from the Bible.  They must decode the scrolls' message before they are stuck in history forever. What J had to say:
"Mom, Mom! You don't understand! It's like I'm really there! Like in the Bible!" "They had to find out what the scrolls said.  Peter got chased by a rhino to a tree.  Then a monkey stole the scroll. My favorite part was when they had to swim to a boat because I like swimming.  I like Peter because he reminds me of Jack in the Magic Treehouse books."

Book Two: Race to the Ark find Peter, Mary and Hank traveling to the time of Noah where they have seven days to solve a riddle before getting wiped out with the flood.   What J had to say:
"It started to rain then a lion roared when they needed to go to the city. They had to race to the ark.  They met Noah's family.  Noah's family was nice.  Mary decided to choose where the animals went - big animals on the top and little animals on the bottom and middle sized animals in the middle.  My favorite part was when they went back home because it was the same as when they had left.  Almost at the end when the lion roared at satan and it was scary and I seriously almost cried!" These books are intended for independent readers age 6-9 or enjoyed by the whole family as a read-aloud.   In either case, these books could be a great way to engage Bible events in your family's daily life.  We were very impressed by these books and greatly anticipate reading new ones in the future!

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The Shepherd's Stone and The Lion's Roar: A Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Review

We have had the pleasure of reviewing books from The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series two times before and each time the kids adore them!  WorthyKids Books has brought joy to our house again with the next two installments, Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Shepherd's Stone (Book 5) and Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Lion's Roar (Book 6).  If your elementary students have never read any of these books, today is the day to start!  As Christian parents, we want Bible stories to come alive to our kids, but ancient words on a page sometimes get stuck in translation.  Each book magically transports Peter and Mary to Biblical times where they race against the clock to solve secrets of the scrolls before they are stuck back in time! They kids get to spy on events like Noah's ark and the battle at Jericho, bringing a kid's eye view to some of the most fantastical events in our history.

What We Received:

We received the next two books in the series.  Both are paperback and over 100 pages and at least 12 chapters.  There are great black and white illustrations at least every 3 or 4 pages.

The Shepherd's Stone takes the kids to David as a shepherd boy and a pack of wolves, they witness the kingdom of Israel and it's enemies the Philistines.  The kids get the chance to hear about David's faith and where his strength comes from!  

In The Lion's Roar, they travel to Babylon where they meet Shadrach and hear about he and his friends' trial by fire years ago.  Then they are introduced to Daniel and the trouble he's having with the high priest.  As the children hide from the high priest with some help from a local friend, Hannah, they witness Daniel's  commitment to God and punishment to the lion's den. 

Who Is It For?

The reading levels of each book is around 2nd grade.  My 8 year old races through each book in a day because he is voracious reader, but also because he loves a good adventure book.  They are simple enough for 6 year old to read and enjoyable enough for 3rd grader to beg for.  As the author continues to add books, I'm certain my son will want to read them despite their ease simply because he's invested now.

What the Kids Thought:

It goes without saying that my 6 and 8 year old enjoy reading these books. When I asked them why, I was told it was because it had to do with the Bible.  They really seemed to connect with these familiar Bible stories presented from a different eye view.  It certainly helped that the series reminded them of certain other book series about a brother and sister that go on adventures to different times.  

What Mom Thought:

In addition to the Biblical reinforcement, the books make a point to label Satan and his forces within each story and then highlights how the children deal with that.  It's been a good exercise for my kids to wrestle with how they deal with Satan's temptations in their own life.  So much more than a fun book!

Would you like a chance to win all 7 of the books in this series? There is a giveaway going on right now! Follow this link to enter: http://bit.ly/ScrollsSweepstakes

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Wondering what other families thought? Check out everyone else's reviews at the link below!

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: Books 3 & 4 Review

Growing up as a lover of books, it was always a magical feeling when you found a favorite book series. A great book is hard to come by, but then great subsequent books are gold!   In 2017, we reviewed the first two books in a great series that J just loved!  This time we were given the third and fourth books in the series The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls by M.J. Thomas from WorthyKids, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.   This time around was a little more exciting because miss Z was ready to start reading the series on her own so we pulled the first two out for her!

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series follows Peter, his sister Mary and their dog Hank as they journey back in time to critical moments in Biblical history through ancient scrolls they find and must solve.  Through these journeys, the siblings get a fly on the wall view of God's power and plan with the help of their uncle Solomon and Michael the archangel.  In the first two books they witnessed the Creation and Noah building the ark.  The next two books follow chronologically as well.

• The Great Escape (Book #3) takes Peter and Mary back to Exodus and the Israelites trouble with Pharoah in Egypt.  Between the plagues, the Great Magician making trouble for them and the countdown to the parting of the Red Sea, the kids experience a lot! 

• Journey to Jericho (Book #4) gives Peter and Mary the chance to be spies and help sneak Rahab and her family out of Jericho before the Israelites conquer the city.  Keeping their cover, learning to be spies and dealing with the Man in Black always trying to get in the way makes it a high alert adventure!

The target age is 6-9, reading grade level 1-4, depending on the book.  J (8), avid reader, finished each book in a couple of hours.  Miss Z (5) new reader, took a few days, but once she got passed the first couple of chapters, she was hooked and seemed to speed up.  In the back of each book, there is a page that asks, "Do you want to read more about the events in this story?" It then lists the chapters where you can find the specific events mentioned in the Bible.  For even more fun, Book #6  The Shepherd's Stone, was just released in December. J has already been begging for it!

What We Liked

I love the joining of Biblical events with modern life!  As a kid, I always felt a disconnect between the Bible stories and my real life.  In addition to greater access to spiritual materials, I feel like the approach the author takes in these books allows my kids to be more invested than I was at that age.

The kids love the adventure.  Since it includes a boy and a girl it can't really be categorized as a boy book or girl book and each story builds on each other leaving them excited for the next story.  Since they were already familiar with the Bible stories, they enjoy recognizing the familiar people and events sprinkled throughout.  J (8) always noted when satan (or who he expected to be acting as satan) was involved.

They are clean, Biblically accurate, creative and fun!  Buying the set would be a perfect birthday or Christmas present!

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Wondering if we might be a little biased?  It's always possible! There were 60 families reviewing these books so feel free to check out some of there reviews through the link below to get a bigger perspective.