The Saga Continues

Homeschool Review Crew

 

Are you ready?  Have you read this great series of books by M.J. Thomas?  My kids love them!  The saga continues with books five and six!  We received both Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Shepherd’s Stone (Book 5) and Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Lion’s Roar (Book 6) to review!  These were kindly sent to us by WorthyKids Books as part of The Homeschool Review Crew.  We have reviewed all the other books in this series as well and even preordered book seven which just came out!!

 

 

My kids love to read and as soon as they finished each book of this series they were ready for the next one.  It’s always hard to wait when you know the saga continues but you can’t get your hands on the next book yet.  These are those types of books that hook you and you just can’t quit until you’ve read them all. 

About the Series

This series is wonderful.  Books five and six carry you away as the saga continues.  You’re swept back into a friendly story.  They are Christian fiction books geared towards children ages 6-9 but really they are loved and enjoyed by kids and adults of all ages.  They’re a super quick read too.  For a reading level, it’s suggested as grades first through third.  Again, kids of all ages love to read them and all of my children who can read on their own devour these books.

You have three main characters, Peter, Mary, and Hank.  Hank is their dog and such a fun character in his own way.  They get to travel back in time to ancient times of the Bible and we learn first hand about some of the most notorious Bible stories.  It’s a great way for kids to love reading but also learn at the same time.

There is some magic because the children are transported through time by using items found in their uncle’s home.  However, this is the type of magic we’re okay with.  It’s one of those choices that each family will have to make on their own.  We are okay this series.

Book five takes us back to the time of David.  In book six we travel back to the story of Daniel and his bout in the lion’s den.  Both great stories made fun through the gift of this great storyteller.

This is a seven-book series and book seven has just been released.  Confession, we preordered it on Amazon and my kids have all already read it as well.  They are now waiting for the next series by M. J Thomas to be released!

 

 

 

 

Our Thoughts

Loved it!  We have loved all of the books in this series and these two are no different.  Within hours of the books arriving in my home, one child was done reading them both and the next was well into them.  My older kids are always the first to grab them.  They are ages 14 and almost 13.  I tell you this because while the recommended reading age is 6-9 they appeal to all ages.

These books make a great read-aloud.  After all of my children who can read on their own have read the books we use them as read aloud.  We always read the Bible story first and then read the book.  When we’re done reading the book we read the Bible story again and talk about any differences.  We also make sure to note what is fiction and what is fact. It’s a great way to let them know that the book takes some great truths and then adds some poetic license. 

Both books, well really all in the series, have a soldier of darkness that must be defeated in his plot to change the course of history.  That’s just another day in the life of our little heroes, making sure they stand between Satan and the heroes in the Bible stories.  Will they come away unscathed every time?

Book Five

In book five they get to meet David.  Not as a king but as a young shepherd boy about to fight Goliath.  

This is such a fun time to travel back to! Your boys will love the battle of course but there are much more mystery and fun to be had than just killing Goliath.  It’s the epic battle of being big with God on your side being just small on your own.  Great story to teach and this makes it fun.

Before David can battle Goliath though we get to follow David as he is just a shepherd boy with no thoughts of greatness other than trusting and following God.  Great lesson just in that. 

Book Six

For book six we travel back to Daniel and his own fight.  While he doesn’t raise a sling to kill a man he battles evil just the same with his fight against bowing to other kings and gods.  Journey into the lion’s den but hopefully not into the mouths of lions.

This is a great story.  It’s fun and easy to read.  But it teaches too.  You get a great way to talk about what truly believing in God can mean and how we aren’t to give in to the peer pressure around us.  I think you can really go more into depth with that with your older kids too as they are starting to venture out into the world more.  Even if they go to the youth group there are going to be kids who think it’s okay to do things that we teach are not right.  Great way to emphasize doing what’s right even if it’s not popular.

A common theme in all the books is patience and waiting on the timing of God.  Such a hard but important lesson to learn.  And I’m talking about me here not just my kids!  The kids in the book have to wait for the lion’s roar to go on each new adventure.  It’s hard to wait!

And A Giveaway

Because these are amazing books and book seven just launched there is a giveaway in association with this crew run of reviews.  You can enter to win a signed copy of the ENTIRE series by going HERE!!  There will be a total of three winners!

This is amazing and you should definitely go enter!  We highly recommend the books and think you’ll enjoy them too!

 

 

Learn More

You can learn more about WorthyKids Books and the Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series by visiting them on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.  Also, find out more specifically about books five and six by reading all of the reviews linked up on the Main Blog Post over on the Homeschool Review Crew Blog.

Read our reviews of other books in the series.  HERE is our review of books one and two.  And you can find books three and four HERE.