When a child reads as much as the Captain does, you learn to pay attention when a favorite book or series is named from amid a staggering stack of volumes.
Out of the 102 books the Captain read in 2024, he named The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls his favorite series of the year! Even more noteworthy than that, he declared without hesitation that the series was indeed “better than Magic Tree House,” a long-time favorite series for our son and children the world over for decades gone by. I actually didn’t believe it could be true at first.
“What?!” I asked. “You enjoyed it more than Magic Tree House?”
“Well, it’s honestly better!” he answered.
“How is it better?” I pressed him, genuinely curious.
“Well, for one thing it’s just more charming, and the stories are so great going into different parts of the Bible, and there’s no sorcery in them like in Magic Tree House.”
SORCERY. As a Christian family, we have not outlawed books that contain “gentle” amounts of it. But of course, we’re not really the book-banning type. 😆 We prefer to proceed cautiously on a book-by-book basis in this area and discuss the topic at length. (We discuss most things at length around here anyway.) We consider titles carefully on many points and postpone or forego books that include levels of sorcery that we aren’t sure about. In truth, we don’t know what the answer is for Christian families on the topic of sorcery in literature or where to “draw the line,” and I suspect we never will in this lifetime.
If your family has hacked the fairy-godmother-versus-witch-debate, we would love to hear your thoughts. For us, we are still hung up on the dicey details and the extra-confusing considerations presented by beloved, largely Christian-approved titles such as The Chronicles of Narnia or even The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. In simplest form, we find it to be a very hairy affair, this discerning between “good sorcery” or “good magic” and bad. When Disney classics or Harry Potter waltz into the conversation it gets even harry-ier!
Suffice it to say, Magic Tree House books have their own shelf in our son’s room and we do not plan to change that at this time. The Captain treasures them and we don’t believe them to be particularly dangerous or offensive. Conversely, however, our beautifully-minded son genuinely dislikes the series’ inclusion of sorcery, for whatever reason, whether spiritually prompted or otherwise. This fact I am taking note of and meditating on.
And so…
For anyone on the lookout either for another series similar to Magic Tree House, or for a Christian ALTERNATIVE to Magic Tree House, here are the Captain’s comparisons ultimately in favor of The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Series! We hope they are helpful to your family in navigating what makes it onto the shelves of your home library.
WHO DID IT BEST?
Magic Tree House or The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls?
The Captain’s Comparison Chart
| Magic Tree House | Hidden Scrolls | |
| Plot/Storyline | ✅ (more powerful, no sorcery) | |
| Character Development | ✅ (I prefer Annie to Mary) | ✅ (I prefer Peter to Jack) |
| Educational | ✅ (more thorough & detailed) | |
| Quantity of Books | ✅ (fifty+ books vs. only nine) | |
| Charm | ✅ (the stories are more special) | |
| Illustrations | ✅ (larger images but fewer) | ✅ (comic-like and plentiful) |
More details about The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls from The Captain’s 2024 Book Reviews:
“These are very funny books with a good amount of adventure (they are Bible stories after all). I like a lot how these characters time-travel to different stories in the Bible. First they go to the Garden of Eden, then the ark, then to Egypt with Moses, and so on through the Bible but they really linger a lot on the Jesus stories because the series ends when Jesus rises from the dead.”
The Captain would like to give this series his highest recommendation for a time-travel series! May you and your family have epic adventures in the Bible together!
Thanks for reading!
Love, Candace Arden & The Captain
Absolutely wonderful book review. As a life long LOTR and Narnia lover, I get the sorcery debate. It would be fun to have a discussion panel on this topic.
I agree!
Came here to say we loved this article!
My girls and I who are subscribed (they always get to read the articles first but don’t leave comments under moms and dads account), couldn’t wait to see what the verdict was on this topic.
For one, they own both The Lord of The Rings and The Narnia Series, both series are beloved by them. The girls are iffy on the gore but love the story line and the movies. They watch the movies to compare them with the books, and like most teens, find the books to more informational but the movies to hold more action.
As far as sorcery is concerned, my husband and I were very careful to wait until they could understand what things meant, and could stomach what was happening (I mean, it wasn’t like Freddy Cougar or anything, we grew up on). We allowed them to read the books first, then the movies came. We felt that reading the material together and watching the movies during family movie nights were best, so we can explain things as needed.
I feel that this series is great for mature tweens and teens, and Magic Tree house doesn’t compare. The latter on a whole new level, lol.
While my girls found the magic tree house to be somewhat entertaining, I feel that they outgrew it really fast. They gobbled up every book under the covers of their blankets, and when they were done, they were done. Back on the shelf. While I cannot even find The Hobbit, or The Lord of The Rings series. That’s how I know they love something, they stash books under covers to read at bedtime. Narnia, while good, has now returned to the shelf.
Harry Potter is one series I will not allow, although back in my hey-days, I read every single book like it was the Bible. I devoured and feasted on every page and the witchcraft and sorcery are greater than the latter two series. But my parents didn’t participate in my education or spiritual upbringing as I am doing for my kids. So, I have not necessarily banned the books, I have told them about the books and why I don’t like them and what they teach. They have chosen not to read them based on what they know about it.
Now that they have heard about The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series, they want to get their hands on a box. We can’t wait, because they have been watching to see when the Captain would count his books mid-year, they are reading their way up to his heels!
Oh this is such a great commentary, and so full of wisdom! Thank you for sharing. Your girls sound like absolute loves. I can taste their love for reading as you write about them. What a joy!!! I should have said that this series is a bit on the young side for the Captain. It’s a bit more advanced than Magic Tree House but not to the level of Narnia for reading level. I would say 2nd or 3rd grade perfect. The Captain was a bit late to the series but has devoured it like cake. Thanks so much for being faithful readers and sharers. The family culture you have created sounds like a beautiful one. Blessings!