I read this with my 8 year olds that they LOVED it!!! It's a great way to teach kids about the world in a fun and exciting way.

We read this in the Kids Bookish Society Roundtable and the kids and I adored it. The story and the way that new vocabulary is explained and presented made it a fun book to read aloud.

A really fun adventure. Very much like Magic Tree House, but I loved the vocabulary lesson and finding out the origins of words. It worked so much better than the. Lemony Snickett stories. (Those are awkward and stilted.). I also enjoyed the puzzle and how the characters solved it. I look forward to future installments. Nice artwork.

The etymology is interesting but it does slow the narrative down a bit. But still a fun pick with both a diverse cast of characters and creators.

A novel is a great way to teach something. By integrating vocabulary and word origins into the plot we not only teach something in a semi-subtle way, they also suggest that learning is fun and useful. The plot is a bit contrived and doesn't always make a lot of logical sense, but logic isn't really the point. Even knowledge of words isn't the focus. The characters are rewarded for intellectual curiosity. They check their book often, looking up things they don't know.

A non-stop adventure built around vocabulary originating (primarily) from Hindi. The illustrations are adorable and added to the excitement for the reader by showing the excitement of the subjects. An intriguing new series featuring new words and their origins and a series of puzzles to solve alongside a great cast of characters.

My children both absolutely loved this book - they enjoyed the setting immensely as well as the mystery! Can't wait for more in this series, hopefully!!

I loved this book so much! Eddie is a curious little boy who is fascinated by words and how they came to be used the way they are today. His best friend MJ, lives next door. Meaning the two spend a lot of time together, even though their interests aren't always in alignment. One special day Eddie wonders about the word pajama's and where it comes from; Upon hearing the question Eddie's mother gives the pair a gift they never expected by suggesting they go find the biggest book full of words and their meaning and origin. Upon finding this book a wonderful entertaining and educational adventure begins.


Written for an early middle-grade audience, this book incorporates many illustrations with short chapters providing, newly confident readers can easily and confidently move from one part of the story to the next, drawn in by both the compelling text and the detailed visuals. Readers with an interest in travel, history, and language will dive headfirst into this riveting adventure.

Throughout the narrative, specific words are featured in bold text, indicating their inclusion in a glossary at the end of the book. There, readers will find a pronunciation guide, a definition of the word, and an explanation of where the word originated, which takes an entertaining book and turns it into a brilliant way of teaching children in a way that is fun for them.

With an eye catching cover, a great title, and the promise of adventure this book is sure to call to young readers and is sure to earn its place on every child, parent and teachers bookshelf..

Highly recommended!

I really loved this story! As a teacher, I'm always looking for fun, educationally based stories for my students. This book is perfect! It felt very much like the books of The Magic Treehouse series in many ways, and I think that students will be able to connect with this because of the love and popularity of those books. I think that the book itself was the perfect length for grade school readers, and there were plenty of fun illustrations for them to enjoy while reading. As an adult, I learned a lot while reading this! I love the concept of learning the origins of some of our commonly used words! This is the first book in the series, and I can't wait for more. I'll definitely be adding this series to my classroom!

This adorable children’s adventure is entertainment with education woven into it. Eddie is a curious little boy who is fascinated by words and how they came to be used the way they are today. His best friend MJ, lives next door. One day while exploring they discover the AEB, the awesome enchanted book, which is sort of like a dictionary but reveals the history behind the word. It’s an etymology and culture lesson cleverly disguised as a children’s book. After opening the book to search for the word pajama, the children are whisked to India where they meet Dev, a young boy who takes them on a vocabulary journey through the country, with rhymes and riddles guiding them to famous locations and learning cool history facts. This book blends so much into the story and reminds me of the Magic Treehouse series. A must for any elementary classroom and a book parents will love buying for their kids.

Readers of early chapter books will love this new series about words! MJ and Eddie use the Awesome Enchanted Book to travel around the world (this first adventure takes them to India) where they learn about how different cultures have impacted the English language and solve mysteries too! While sometimes the action seems a little improbable, the books are fun and I will be adding them to my library. E ARC provided by Sourcebooks on #netgalley.

“The Mystery of the Taj Mahal Treasure” is a wonderful new series for adventure lovers. Packed with fun, Raj Haldar delivers learning in a clever and subtle way. I recommend for readers of any age.

A sincere thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Kids, and Sourcebooks Explore for providing me an advance copy (ARC) of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this story and leave my review voluntarily.

Hmmm... well-meaning adventure with a dash of Reithian education thrown in, this is a little on the clumsy side to rave over, but does pass the time reasonably well. Eddie and MJ are about that age when you stop having sleepovers and hanging round in the bathroom in their jimjams together, but here they are indeed having a sleepover together in their jammies when the lad asks what the word means. Told to explore an ancient etymological dictionary a relative handily left lying around, they look up 'pyjamas' and lo and behold get transported to Agra, where they meet Dev, who is of course desperate to find the family treasure he's heard about to fund a new school building after a typhoon wiped away his usual one. Because there's nothing to make a young reader like a character more than having a love of school in common.

All this provides for a quite page-turning adventure, especially when a lot of illustrations pad out the slender story. But like I say it's clumsy – the shtick of presenting Indian words to the heroes – and by proxy (and by the appendix) to us – wears a bit thick, and the shoe-horning in of heroines for MJ to look up to is very blunt. The story jumps from nine am to four pm within pages for no reason, and what's this nonsense of catching one of two possible dinghy departures somewhere when it's just a boat lying there they have to row themselves?! It's also very problematic when you realise the creators don't realise that shadows made by the sun tend to run parallel, and not overlap from entirely different angles.

So it's an awkward instance of giving three stars to a book I didn't appreciate. The target readers – the under-tens – will have some good time here, but the way the book is just wantonly loose with reality when also trying to be meritorious and educational is a big problem. The further examples of this series – and there will be more to come – need to sharpen up their act.

Nine-year-old Eddie and ten-year-old MJ are best friends who love to explore together, even though their interests do not always align. One Super Saturday, when the two get together for their weekly sleepover, Eddie wonders about the origin of the word pyjamas. His mother provides a cryptic response, inviting him to seek out an old and worn book from their creepy attic. When they do, the book divulges more secrets than they expect, and the two friends find themselves suddenly transported to India where a boy named Dev needs their help.

Written for an early middle-grade audience, this book incorporates many illustrations with short chapters and ample white space. Through this design, newly confident readers will receive immense satisfaction as they move from one part of the story to the next, drawn in by both the compelling text and the detailed visuals. Readers with an interest in travel, history, and language will dive headfirst into this riveting adventure.

Throughout the narrative, specific words are featured in bold text, indicating their inclusion in a glossary at the end of the book. There, readers will find a pronunciation guide, a definition of the word, and an explanation of where the word originated. As the title implies, Eddie and MJ travel the world in search of words, and their Awesome Enchanted Book serves as a critical guide.

Illustrations are just as important as the text in this book and are included on the majority of the pages. Whether appearing as a chapter accent or filling an entire page, these dynamic, black-and-white images provide additional comprehension support for the action in the story. Eddie is depicted with light skin and red hair, MJ has a dark complexion and brown, curly hair, and Dev appears with tan skin, wearing traditional Indian garments. Important moments in the plot are emphasized in the illustrations which bring the story to vibrant life.

Young children who are becoming comfortable reading chapter books independently will find this story to be both accessible and enjoyable. Because of the element of mystery and the inclusion of more challenging vocabulary and concepts, this is a great step up from series like Geronimo Stilton and The Magic Treehouse. This unique approach to adventure through words will captivate young readers and will teach them something new along the way. It is a fabulous addition to libraries for late elementary and early middle grade readers.

A charming new chapter book mystery series! This book follows the adventures of Eddie and MJ as they search for an ancient treasure help their new friend Dev rebuild his school. Along the way they have to solve mysteries and they discover so many every day words that we use that have a Hindi origin. It was such a charming way to learn about a new culture, and discover the diversity in American culture. It manages to do this in a natural way, keeping children engaged in the mystery.

A bit of magic in the Awesome Enchanted Book found in the attic takes best friends, 10 year old MJ and 9 year old Eddie, to India to help a local boy, Dev, find a treasure and rebuild his school, destroyed by a typhoon.
Short chapters, engaging diverse characters, plentiful illustrations and lots of action hold your attention, even while the kids are learning about the derivation of words that originated in India. Several kinds of puzzles must be solved, and a sneaky man thwarted, before the trio find the treasure; then MJ and Eddie are whisked back home. A fast and interesting story.