WorthyKids Books The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Book 5 & 6 Review and Giveaway

My family had the privilege of trying the Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Shepherd's Stone (Book 5) and Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Lion's Roar (Book 6) from WorthyKids Books for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

WorthyKids Books is an imprint of the Hachette Book Group. WorthyKids has kids' Christian and inspirational books. This line of colorful, interactive children's books includes such notable titles as: VeggieTales and Berenstain Bears. They reach the top 10 best-selling children’s books during the Easter and Christmas seasons each year.

M.J. Thomas is a scholar in Bible studies and an author to The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls book series. When his son Peter was 9 he tried to find books that taught about the events in the Bible in a enjoyable, exciting, and captivating way. He didn't find any, so he decided to write his own. The main characters of the stories are named after his son Peter, his niece Mary, and his dog Hank.

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls by M.J. Thomas are a time-traveling adventure book series that helps kids explore the Bible and increase in faith. These chapter books combine biblical accuracy with mystery, wonder, imagination, adventure, danger, and excitement. Peter, Mary, and Hank have discovered ancient scrolls that help them travel back in time. These scrolls have clues to solve and the three must solve them before time runs out or they will become stuck in the past forever. You will also meet Great-Uncle Solomon, the eccentric archaeologist who discovered the scrolls, and the angel Michael, who aides the children on their quests. These are recommended to emerging readers ages 6-9, readers ages 8-12, homeschooling families, and others that love adventure.

We have reviewed the first four books in the series, The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls and now we get to read the fifth and sixth books as well:

• The Shepherd's Stone (Book #5)
• The Lion's Roar (Book #6)

If you read below, just know there are spoilers...

In the fifth title of the series, The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Shepard's Stone; Peter was throwing a ball to Hank when it hit a suit of armor and knocked the sword and glove off. Inside they discovered a map of the home and some rooms they didn't recognize were on it. They Peter, Mary, and Hank went exploring a room in their Great-Uncle Solomon's home called the Royal Room and it had all sorts of crowns and portraits of royalty. Then the call of the lion beckons them once more to open another scroll. This time they are thrust into Bethlehem where they meet David, a shepherd boy, and his family. They witness the story of the Israelite and Philistine battle and David and Goliath from the Bible. With the help of Michael, an angel, they battle the forces of evil, the soldier in the black armor (The Soldier of Darkness). Will they solve the secrets of the scroll before the time runs out in four days?

In The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Lion's Roar Peter, Mary Hank, and Great-Uncle Solomon are playing hide and seek when they find a statue of a lion and a tile puzzle. They try to put the puzzle together when they get called by the lion's roar once again. This time they are called to the ancient Babylon. The time traveling trio meet: Hannah, Shadrach, and Daniel in their quest to solve the scroll. They get to see a statue of Marduk, Ziggurats, the Ishtar Temple and The Hanging Gardens. They witness the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. Will they solve the secrets of the scroll before the time runs out in four days and will the evil High Priest and his raven get their way?

Zari Reading The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls The Shepherd's Stone book.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
Zari, my almost nine year old daughter, and I read these books separately. The fifth has 120 pages and 14 chapters. The sixth book has 120 pages and 14 chapters. These were both a quick, fast paced read for the both of us. We both thought the books held our attention well. They also have some black and white drawings here and there in the books that were fun. At the end of each book there is a page that has where to read the actual story and synopsis in the authors own words of the chapters in the bible. These books had a lot of action and adventure throughout which made them fun to read.

I liked that the story basically follows with what happens in the bible fairly well. Even though there are fictitious elements in these books...like the kids traveling in time...they tell the story from the bible and make it come to life. Zari loved all the imaginative things that the author adds to make it seem like you are also there with main characters. The scrolls were a great idea also to make it even more of a challenge for the trio to get back to their time and we like that Peter writes things in his adventure journal that are included in the pages as well.

Zari and I enjoyed reading these books from The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series. She told me they are fun books to read and she likes the series a lot. We love that these Christian kids books teach kids about the bible. These have a great lesson also to trust in God and he will always be there for you. We liked the action and adventure as well. These were fun books to read. We hope to be able to read more books from the series once they come out.

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BUY IT
Purchase these on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, here.

WIN IT
To help promote the newest book, WorthyKids Books is running a giveaway of all 7 books and will choose three winners to get signed copies of the entire series so far. Click on the image below or here to enter!




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Brain Blox Fun Family Chess Review

My family had the privilege of trying Fun Family Chess from Brain Blox for this review to use in conjunction with our own games at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Brain Blox is a family-owned company that makes educational games and toys that can be enjoyed by the whole family. They believe that kids should be free to play, explore, and express themselves in a way true to who they are inside. They want to empower families to have more meaningful time and relations with one another, without electronics devices...to engage more with the real world together.

Fun Family Chess is set up the same as traditional chess. Board has icons where you place the pieces other than pawns.

Fun Family Chess is a 2 player chess game with double the fun because there are two ways to play, Fun Family Chess and traditional chess. The game of Fun Family Chess is said to have been invented by a dog named Chesster. The Fun Family Chess game uses a chess cube or die that has all the symbols of the pieces color coded to match the reference card. The light side goes first and rolls the chess cube. Then you match the colored symbol to the reference card. If you roll a star you can move any piece that can move. You must roll a star to move the King because there isn't a King symbol on the cube. If you cannot move the piece indicated on the chess cube how it is stated on the reference card you get to roll again! You can capture pieces by landing on top of your opponent's piece. Once you capture it you can take that piece off the board. You win by capturing the other player's king instead of trapping it in a position it can't escape (checkmate in traditional standard chess).

How to Play Fun Family Chess:


Go here to watch more videos on Fun Family Chess!

5 ways traditional standard chess is different:

• no chess cube: instead choose any piece you can move legally.
• winning is different: you win by checkmate.
• pawn superpower: if a pawn reaches the other side of the board safely it can change into another piece (except a pawn or King)
• en passant: means your pawn gets another superpower...a special capture that is only used in specific situations. You can read more about this in the Full Color Chess Book.
• castling: in some situations, the Rook and King can do this special swap-move-thing. You can read more about this in the Full Color Chess Book.

Brain Blox Fun Family Chess pieces store inside the foldable wooden case that doubles as the board.

Includes:

• Folding Wooden Chess Board with Velvet Lining and Chess Icons on the Board for Easy Set up.
• 32 Wooden Chess Pieces with Velvet Bottoms in a Soft Pouch.
• Full Color Chess Book, teaches both Fun Family Chess and Standard Chess.
• 2 Color Coded Reference Cards, shows how each piece moves.
• Chess Cube/Die, when playing Fun Family Chess, simply roll the die to see which piece to move.
• Plus...Video Tutorials and 2 Months Gold Membership with ChessKid!

Zari and Teela playing Fun Family Chess.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

Chess improves problem solving, concentration, memory, strategic thinking, planning, foresight and intelligence. Sometimes though it can be a bit overwhelming to learn because of all the moves and plays you need to remember. My oldest son loves chess, but he can be a bit intimidating to my daughters who are younger because he is good at playing because of practice. The Brain Blox Fun Family Chess makes it easy to learn how to play chess and it has the piece icons right on the board to help you with setup and reference cards to know how each piece moves. You can start with the Fun Family Chess game and move up to traditional chess once you have learned the basic moves the pieces make.

I also love that the Fun Family Chess set is beautifully made. The pieces and the board are made of wood. The board folds up and is its own case for the pieces, cards, die, and booklet. It latches shut so nothing will fall out. The inside is velvet lined so that the pieces will be somewhat padded and their are two velvet pouches for all the light and dark pieces to go into. The pouches help you not loose the pieces and keep them all together. The pieces have felt on the bottoms of them too so they won't scratch the surface of the board as you play.

My daughters, Teela and Zari, who are 11 and almost 9 loved playing with this chess set. They thought it was a lot more fun to play the Fun Family Chess game with the chess cube because the cube told you which piece to play if you could play it and if not you could roll again until you could play a piece. My girls also loved that the cube had a star symbol on it which meant they could pick what ever piece they wanted. The Fun Family Chess game definitely gave a new perspective to the game of chess. They also loved that the moves of each piece was laid out for them on a full color reference card so they could see the piece and how it moved on the board. Even my youngest daughter said it wasn't as complicated because of the way it was presented. Both of my girls said that this chess set, even when playing traditional chess, was easier to both set up and play.

I am very glad we got to review the Brain Blox Fun Family Chess because it is a great way to learn to play chess or help someone like me who is very rusty at chess because I haven't played in a while. I recommend it very highly, especially as a chess for kids!

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• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mybrainblox 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainblox 
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• Hashtags: #hsreviews #FunFamilyChess

Also, on the Brain Blox website there are some awesome free resources. We love the free printables for the Conscious Kids Journal! Don't miss those.

BUY IT
You can purchase the Brain Blox Fun Family Chess from Amazon.



Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Brain Blox Fun Family Chess...