This is such a great Book. I read it with my kids. We all enjoyed it. If you enough the Gunnies and National Treasure you are sure to enough this book. It full great adventures and great discoveries!!!

I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) of this novel courtesy of Mokum Media via NetGalley.

Release Date: October 23, 2018

Publisher: Mokum Media

Genre: Middle Grade, Teens & YA, Historical Fiction

Rating: 3 / 5

Storyline:

Four best friends accidentally find an old masterpiece sketch, which eventually leads them to discovering a 15th century codex full of Leonardo DaVinci's sketches, writings and more.  The friends have different ideas of what to do with the discovery, but eventually sisters Lisa and Sophie decode the codex and learn of DaVinci's time travel invention.  From there, it's up to them to decide what to do with the information, sell it or test it out. The book follows their decision as they head out on a legendary quest.

The Good:

The authors do a great job of incorporating facts into their fiction story at the appropriate level of the target audience.  Nothing felt like you were reading long pages of history and since the target audience is youth and teens, the information was easily understood without insulting the readers intelligence by oversimplifying.  The characters were realistic, and weren't these kid geniuses who knew everything about history.  This book would be a great introduction to fun, fast-paced historical fiction for young readers.

The Bad:

I'll be honest, historical fiction isn't my favorite genre.  I think just my personal preference is was led to my rating it 3/5, which still translates to "I liked it."  Some of the descriptive writing felt like it slowed the pace down, but I know others who love descriptive writing so they can feel transported to the story.  Middle grade historical fiction, plus the addition of time travel definitely made the story more appealing to me though.  This was a good book to slowly test the waters of a new-to-me genre.

The Bottom Line:

A "fact-fiction" book full of interesting twists and turns plus big decisions for the young characters.

Though this book is about a bunch of kids stumbling upon secrets and all sorts of fun, don't let that stop you from picking it up. If you enjoyed books like the famous five or the hardy boys, this would be a reminiscence of sorts.
I loved this book since I grew up reading books like these, group of friends on an adventure. And one must mention that this book has a lot to teach us about Leonardo Da Vinci.
I absolutely loved this book.

Secret Scouts and the Lost Leonardo is a children’s book written by Dennis and Wendel Kind. Together these two authors managed to weave fact and fiction into a casual mystery series.
Tom, Lisa, Sophie and Jack were just having a fun afternoon together, when a sketch given to them by their neighbor sets them off on a series of searches. Eventually it leads them to the biggest discovery of their lives.
It’s clear that Secret Scouts and the Lost Leonardo is intended to be for children. While it is witty and clever, its tone is kept lighter for obvious reasons. The facts that are included are not so in depth as to force a fourth grader’s eyes to glaze over. Even as an adult I found myself amused by the discoveries and antics the children got up to.
The book starts off with a series of art history facts that quickly become the basis for the mystery the children find themselves into. I’m not sure if everybody would take the time to read these tidbits, but I did, and they really did help establish the setting. It also gave the sense that the whole book was grounded in fact, thus making it all more plausible.
There are a lot of twists and turns in this book. From the discoveries, to the trips and adventures the kids go on. One wouldn’t expect a book that’s basically an art history mystery to involve time travel, but sometimes little surprises like that can be a lot of fun.
The writing itself is exceptionally descriptive. The Dennis and Wendel Kind really take the time to paint the scene for you, no pun intended (okay, maybe a little bit of a pun intended). The sheer number of details brought into the mix makes it hard to tell at points whether they’re basing it on fact or fiction, which further enhances the believability of the novel.
Tom, Lisa, Sophie, and Jack are exactly what we’d expect them to be; kids. Sure, they’re curious kids that do a fantastic job of getting themselves in absurd situations, but in the end they’re still kids. They act just like it too. Sometimes they’ll try and act all mature, but other times their emotions get the best of them, from getting over excited or frustrated and everything in between. Sometimes that means that they’ll pick on each other or, as siblings are known to do, intentionally pick fights or play pranks. Considering their ages, and the intended ages of the readers, this all makes perfect sense.
Oddly enough it was some of the adults that seemed the least realistic. Mostly I’m speaking about one character in particular. There’s a friend of the family that I just couldn’t like. He was too perfectly designed to fit the curiosity and needs of the children and their investigations. While helpful, it resulted in him coming off as slightly creepy (though I did love that he owned a Bengal cat).
This is a really fun mystery that will be perfect for children. I love that they added an art history element to it – who knows, maybe it’ll help create a new generation of art historian? The addition of some science fiction elements was a surprise, but I think it helped keep the plot moving forward as needed.
As an art history major I did find myself cringing at several points in the book – through no fault of the authors, that is. It hurt my heart to read about children handling such a classic book with no gloves and just shoving it in their backpack like that. I know it isn’t real, and it’s meant for kids that wouldn’t know better…but oh my poor heart! Seriously though, while it did induce mild cringing it would never have been enough to make me stop reading (as evidenced by the fact that I finished it).
The descriptive nature of the book was absolutely wonderful, especially when combined with the more whimsical moments. While it may lose the attention of some of the more casual young readers out there, I think any avid reader would devour the pages of this book (I know I would have).
It’s clear that Dennis and Wendel Kind are hoping that this will become a series, and I wish them the best in this endeavor. I don’t know if they’ll have the same children appear, as like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys (though I hope that’s the case), or if they’ll create a new cast every time. Either way I think they’ve got a lot of potential, and I dearly hope they stick to the art history theme.
I can’t recommend this book enough for the curious young readers in our lives. That may be my bias and love of art history showing through, but I think it’s worth the read. That they use facts to support their fiction was a genius move, and will hopefully instill curiosity in its readers.

Many thanks to to the author for providing me with an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

When sisters Sophie and Lisa, together with their friends Tom and Jack, find a secret hidden room behind a bookshelf in their father's study, the come across an old codex they think may have belonged to Leonardo Da Vinci.  Within the codex are drawings and inventions for things way beyond the codex's time - including a description of how to time travel.  The picture of the time travel device matches a strange device they have found in the hidden room.  The four friends embark on an adventure to speak to Leonardo himself and find out more about the mysteries surrounding him.

A modern day fiction book, interspersed with facts about Leonardo Da Vinci's life, and the questions that still surround some of his art and inventions, I think this story will be really fun for it's intended audience.  When I was younger, I loved the Famous Five and Secret Seven books (if you're as old as me you'll know the ones I'm talking about, ha!) and this book had a similar feel to those.  The sheer number of 'coincidences' and the predictable 'these ordinary kids changed the whole world' type trope made it a little difficult for me as an adult reader to really appreciate the book.  However, I tried to keep in mind it is definitely directed at middle grade readers and this sort of adventure story would probably thrill them.  I did really enjoy the information about Leonardo Da Vinci and the finished book will include captioned photos showing his work where relevant in the book!  I think this would be the type of book to spark discussion about such historical facts between children reading this book and their parents or teachers, which is always a good thing!

Overall, a good start to an adventure series, with time travel as a central theme, for middle grade readers.

Your kids are going to love Secret Scouts and The Lost Leonardo! It is full of super cool time traveling, fun characters, mystery and more! As a kid, I think we all wished our house had a secret room, right? I know I loved mystery books, and mystery books usually had some sort of secret passageway or room. The hero would make a great discovery or find clues in that room. Such is the case with the Secret Scouts. What they find is ancient and very valuable! But the most valuable part is that it leads them on the adventure of a lifetime…back in time to Leonardo da Vinci!

This book reminds me of The Magic Tree House series, but it is for kids that are a little older than what that series is meant for. If your kids were fans of the time traveling in that series but have outgrown them, it’s time for them to read this one!

The kids in this book are really believable, and the story is very fun. I like that kids can learn a little bit about history and art while reading a fun adventure book. The details and pictures really bring the story to life. Your kids will go on a real adventure when they read this book!

The Secret Scouts and The Lost Leonardo is a great MG story about time travel, history and friendship.
This was an adventure about four friends who go on adventures. The story is for middle grade, but still would be fun to read at any age. There is time travel and changing history that added an extra layer to this already fun story. It was cool to read the four kids' ideas of what to with Leonardo's codex, it really showed how they were raised and certain values. I really did enjoy this book for how it made sure the 4 friends stayed kids. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read the Secret Scouts and The Lost Leonardo.

I did not like this book at all, which makes me sad because this was a very highly anticipated book for me. The plot of this book sounds very intriguing and something my students would love. However, on execution this book falls so flat!! The beginning of this book has zero setup!! It just starts and expects you to figure out what’s going on! The characters all feel exactly the same which is awkward because they appear (based on the plot) to be very different. I can’t imagine my students enjoying this book so I will not be purchasing for my library.

While the subject matter of this book was fascinating, the storytelling, scene setting, and character building were not well developed and did not engage me as a reader. The authors rely heavily on adverbs and adjectives, and dialogue to tell the story, making the writing feel clunky and amateurish. The dialogue doesn't sound authentic, nor does it differentiate the characters. Furthermore, there are so many characters introduced all at once, the reader has to work hard to keep up, especially as there is no clear point-of-view character and a lot of head-hopping. The author(s) failed to make the reader care about these characters, or to understand the motivation for their actions.

Really cute kids books. The DaVinci code for young readers! The kids will love it! I bet they make a movie out of this one #secretscouts #netgalley

It's the type of book I'd have wanted to read as a child.
A great plot, realistic characters and a very good style writing, neat and detailed.
As an adult I can say this novel is very enjoyable and entertaining.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

Secret scouts and the lost leonardo ⭐️

These kids are just your average group of hooligans, but they come across something magical. Its their secret and the parents are not to find this book this mysterious book.

Think scooby doo meets cheesy nickelodeon kids show.

Star reasoning
⭐️ I love the descriptive writing. I was able to picture the scene and the kids perfectly.

⭐️I really liked that the kids were kids. They were mature at times but they picked on one another and were butt heads at times but they were kids. So many stories make the kids act like tiny adults and im really glad they didnt. ( probaby because its middle grade and they want kids to relate).

⭐️It was a simple idea, but done wonderfully Mysterious book, kids in the search to find out what it is, kids try to solve the mystery without parents finding out. Becuase parents are useless in every book, ever.

⭐️It was just really fun. Im not a young reader and I really liked it. So i think the age its directed to will love this.

Thank you so much to Mukum Media via netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of Secret Scouts and the lost leonardo by Mr and Mrs. Kind. This will be released on October 23, 2018.

Wow! What an amazing adventure! This story is about time travel, history and friendship . . . there is so much good, educational information in this kid's adventure story! It all starts with a mysterious sketch. The reader will learn about Leonardo deVinci, codex, orrery, Andrea del Verrocchio and Poveglia, just to name a few. And! The story is great fun and written at a good pace. I had a difficult time putting the book down. There is a small amount of profanity and in the middle of the book it gets a little gross. However, Lisa, Tom, Sophie and Jack have an incredible experience they will never forget.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Mokum Media through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What a great way to learn about a world famous artist from the 1500’s! Lisa, Sophie, Tom and Jack are friends who work together to find out if they have a page from Leonardo’s sketchbook!
Lisa and Sophie are given a framed sketch from a neighbor who says it is one that used to hang up in the girls’ old farmhouse and she wanted it to be returned and hung up there again. But Sophie insists that the sketches look the same as the ones in an old book of their father’s, and while they are looking for it, they accidentally find a secret room! In the secret room they see a large canvas, some glass globes a case, a vial of water and an old book. The book is very old, it is leather, it has many sketches and notes in it, along with the initials LDV.
You will have to read the story for yourself to find out if the sketches were Leonardo’s, and what happens when the kids learn that Leonardo invented a time traveling machine!