Does your child love adventure? Do you want to instill a love and understanding of the events in the Bible? The The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls by WorthyKids, an imprint of Hachette Book Group may be just the series you are looking for. It combines lots of adventure with wonderful true Bible stories in a way that is fun and easy to follow.
My daughter was assigned to read The Great Escape (Book #3) during her school reading time over the course of a week. However, on that Monday evening she came to me and said that she hoped it was okay that she had read the entire book that day. When I asked her what she thought she said, ” I loved them. I really liked that the main characters were kids. I also like how they include the Bible while still making it an adventure.” She was thrilled that I also had Journey to Jericho (Book #4) for her to read and was excited to know that there are several others in the series.
*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *
I had the opportunity to read through The Great Escape (Book #3) and found it to be simple, easy to follow and a great introduction to the first chapters in Exodus which tell of the plagues of Egypt and the Egyptians escape including the parting of the Red Sea. As an adult it only took about 30 minutes or so to read but I would expect it to take young readers longer than that. The chapters were short enough to not feel overwhelming to most young readers.
I felt like they did a good job of staying true to the Bible though there are obviously fictionalized components. The book begins in modern times with two siblings staying at their uncle’s house. Since this is not their first adventure they know when they find an old scroll that it is going to take them on a time traveling adventure. They end up traveling to the time of the Exodus, meeting a fictional Princess and getting a firsthand view of the plagues in Egypt before leaving with the Israelites.
I really liked that at the end of the book there is a section which explains where in the Bible you can read the story and a little about the fictionalization of the story (in this instance the Princess was not based on a specific real person).
As you can probably guess Journey to Jericho (Book #4) is about the story of the walls of Jericho. Once again, the main characters are two siblings Peter and Mary along with their dog Hank. The story is set up in a very similar way with the siblings going on an adventure to solve the mystery of another scroll.
Overall, we really enjoyed these books. My daughter did not seem to mind that we started with books 3 and 4 as they can certainly stand alone. However, if I were purchasing the books I would probably start with book one and read them in order. Reading in order would have given you a little more information on the scrolls and the power surrounding them. I am also just a little peculiar about preferring to read series in order. There are five books in the series and my daughter has already ordered book one to add to her collection using some birthday money that she had set aside.
Worthy Kids recommends this book for first through third grades. I think the story is great for an even wider range, maybe kindergarten through fifth grades read aloud. The independent reading level is probably closer to second or third grade, though a strong first grader may be able to read it. It was easy reading for my fifth grade daughter but she enjoyed the story. I highly encourage you to check out The Great Escape (Book #3) and Journey to Jericho (Book #4) for adventure filled journey through stories from the Bible. Don’t forget to click below to check out what the other Review Crew members thought about these books. Tell me in the comments what Bible story you think the author should turn into the next book in the series.
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
The Schoolin' Swag Blog 
One thought on “The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls (Book Review)”