The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Review

My kindergartener and I were happy to be introduced to the newest books in The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series by WorthyKids, an imprint of Hachette book group.  These books are The Great Escape (Book #3) and Journey to Jericho (Book #4).

The Secret of the Hidden Scroll Series

If you’re looking for chapter books for your kids to read, then check out The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series.  Since most of my children are beyond this level of reading, I read these aloud to my kindergartener.  She enjoyed them and it was a nice break from her simplistic kindergarten reading material.  We read both books over the course of several days and she was always begging for me not to stop!

The books in this series take children from ages 6-9 on adventures back in time to actual Bible history.  Your child will be thrilled to imagine what it was like to walk around the walls of Jericho or cross the Red Sea on dry ground.  While your children may already be familiar with these Bible stories, the beauty of these books is that it helps your kids realize that actual people – and kids – just like them experienced these very real events.  This series puts names and faces on Bible stories and transports kids back into the pages of Scripture.  

The stories follow the adventures of time-traveling siblings, Peter and Mary, and their dog, Hank.  Even if your child knows the end of the actual Biblical event in the book, they will still be captured with the suspense of wondering if Peter and Mary will find the Secret of the Hidden Scrolls in each adventure, or if they will be stuck back in time!  The secret words that appear on the scrolls throughout the books help to emphasize the main idea or lesson of the Biblical story.

Book 3:  The Great Escape

In the third book, The Great Escape, siblings Peter and Mary experience ancient Egypt with the Israelite slaves.  By befriending Pharaoh’s daughter, who is right about their age, the kids see the Ten Plagues from their new friend’s perspective.  There is conflict right to the end with the evil Great Magician.  Just in time, the kids discover the scroll’s secret message and they are able to return to the future.  This story’s lesson was “God is powerful and will set you free.”  

Book 4:  Journey to Jericho

In book four, Journey to Jericho, Peter and Mary find themselves encamped with the Israelites as Joshua prepares them to march around Jericho.  Of course, the kids meet Rahab before that fateful day, and they fight against a dark figure (literally, “the man in black”) until the very end, which they find out is actually Satan.  There is spiritual warfare surrounding the events at Jericho as Michael the archangel fights Satan and wins.  As Satan cries out, “You can’t trust God!” the message on the scrolls echos loud and clear:  “God always keeps His promises.”  

Recommendations

Having the spiritual warfare pictured in this book is helpful as kids are shown that these events in Biblical history are not just events on the earth, but a bigger part of God’s redemptive story that does indeed include fighting among the powers of darkness and light.  These are realities which are good for our kids (and us!) to be reminded of.  However, if your children might be scared with Satan being included in the story line, or drawn as an illustration of a man in a black robe, then you should be aware of this.  It is not presented in an overly scary manner, and most children will probably be fine with it.

These books are recommended for ages 6-9, and I recommend them for that age.  My youngest, who is 5, could not read them independently, but she loved the story line as a read-aloud.  My son who is 10 felt that they were too immature for him.  So I think this shows that kids right in the middle of that age range will enjoy these books!

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