DisneyPlus Mysterious Benedict Society Adaptation The combination of plot twists, puzzles, riddles, and teamwork makes for good storytelling, and the reader wants to keep reading to see how it all comes together. The series is fun to read because it is so creative and the characters are so well-drawn. The same can be said of the other members of the “family” that we get to know as the story evolves. Benedict and his assistants, Number Two, Rhonda, and Milligan, are worthy adults and interesting characters. And, because much of the story centers on riddles and puzzles, the reader is challenged to solve the riddles for himself as he reads.īecause several of the children are orphans, there is a beautiful adoption theme that runs throughout the books. This exciting and intelligent book series celebrates the good that happens when people of differing gifts work together for a common good. The Mysterious Benedict Society series of books chronicles the friendship of four unique children (three of whom are presumed to be orphans, and the other is a runaway) as they are recruited by Nicholas Benedict to do a job that only uniquely gifted and special kids can do. He seems to have excellent taste in children’s literature, and that makes me inclined to trust him a bit just for that. According to an interview with NPR, Stewart claims The Hobbit and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe as his two favorite books from childhood. I know practically nothing about the author, and I don’t mean to presume any worldview or intention in his writing. The Mysterious Benedict Society is more secular than the Christian authors I listed above, but also timely and good. Sam Smith has a wonderful video essay on this very topic that is well worth the watch. Wilson, Jonathan Rogers, Andrew Peterson, and Phil & Erin Ulrich. I am deeply grateful for living authors like S. They are writing stories that speak to the challenges we have, and they are subtly, or not so subtly, pointing us to the Maker who is the Prime Author. I have been deeply grateful for these storytellers and their families who support them in their craft. In the last year, I have felt strongly that God is raising up a generation of storytellers whose writing will inspire, nurture, and challenge this new generation of readers (and their parents) to confront the worldly darkness that seeks to extinguish our God-given light. If you would like to know about the series generally or any of the books in particular, read on.

As I have now read all of the series and am working my way through the prequel and puzzle book, I am converting that review into a series review here. series, which led to a renewal of interest in the entire Mysterious Benedict Society series. In 2021, DisneyPlus released the “Mysterious Benedict” t.v. In 2016, I reviewed the first Mysterious Benedict Society book by Trenton Lee Stewart.

The great benedict society