Author: Raj Haldar
Illustrator: Neha Rawat
© Date: 2021
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Pages: 114
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, every page layout has an illustration
Publisher Recommended Age: 7 and up
Bonus Activities at End of Book: Not really, a glossary of word origins is included
Summary from Book: It’s a Super Saturday sleepover! That means best friends Eddie and Molly-Jean (who prefers to be called MJ) are going to play outside, create obstacle courses for MJ’s newts, and watch their favorite movies—and then they’ll travel to India to solve a mystery and help save a school—all before bedtime!
In the first exciting adventure of Word Travelers, follow two best friends as they magically travel around the world in search of a hidden treasure. Can they decipher the clues and uncover the mysterious secrets of teh golden key before the sneaky Mr. Raffles beats them to it?
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this a short bit ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: Are you looking for an example of a good idea with poor execution? Look no further. The concept of a mystery story with clues while learning word etymology is a fun concept, but I wonder if the author had read many stories for the intended age range audience. The innate intelligence of a chapter book reader seems to be missed in this one, explanations are given for things that may not have needed one. For example, at one point, something felt like an earthquake that Eddie and MJ had heard about on the TV news. The TV bit didn’t seem necessary and just felt odd. Many ideas felt rather forced, like MJ’s hero, Amelia Earhart, seemed forced into the storyline rather than being a sweet or relatable reference. The storytelling didn’t feel like it flowed well, but I could have been okay with that if the overall feel was not great.
If this one had been any longer, I would not have pushed through to finish it. I would have rated this one lower, but I liked the etymology idea and the illustrations.
Family Unit: Eddie lives with his mother and father. MJ lives next door.
Conflict/Social Issues:
- Eddie and MJ meet Dev who is looking for some hidden family treasure so that he can pay for a new school to be built
- Eddie, MJ, and Dev are tracked by Mr. Raffles who would rather find the treasure himself and build a shopping center
Positive Items:
- Readers would learn the origins of several words.
- A fun, new school was built. A reader might imagine what kind of amazing school they would build.
Items of Interest:
- Eddie and MJ travel into the Awesome Enchanted Book, or AED, to India.
- Mr. Raffles had been one step ahead of Eddie, MJ, and Dev for awhile. They were able to observe how unkind Mr. Raffles was. He also documented everything for his brother, but then leave his notes behind.
- Mr. Raffles cannot follow the children into the final tunnel that leads to the treasure because he is too big.
- Mr. Raffles steals a tea recipe from a restaurant owner, then throws it into a fountain. I was surprised that no one fished it out to see if it was salvageable.
- After the new school is built, Mr. Raffles and his brother are happy because the school brought their existing business lots of customers.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Book 2 – Word Travelers and the Missing Mexican Molé
- Book 3 – Word Travelers and the Big Chase in Paris