MERN - Which textbook to use?

Back in 2017 I faced the exactly the same problem, except that it was MEAN. So I bought the book "Getting MEAN". It had good reviews, probably the best review about MEAN. But then I found I didn't actually read the book too much because javascript changes so much every year that many things I read from the book may be obsoleted.

Every time I read this article "How it feels to learn JavaScript in 2016" I share the same feeling with the author "it is insane" and I keep coming back this article!

But I will try to answer this question through my experience.

1. express is relative stable, express remains in 4.x for couple of years, which is quite unusual in js world. I don't recommend books for express. Its website is good enough. Other knowledge about express may just gain from programming.

2. To know express well, knowing node.js and its ecosystem is a must. When I learned nodejs back then I did buy the book "Node.js 8 the Right Way" and borrowed the book "Node.js in Action" But I will argue that no books about nodejs can keep up with the changes in nodejs world. So maybe just read the articles you google. But I notices I read a lot from https://dev.to/ , https://2ality.com/ & https://blog.logrocket.com/

3. Though my limited experience with MongoDB, I didn't like it at all, to me it is a poor product. There is old article called "Don't use MongoDB" which I resonate a lot "if you're writing a toy site, or a prototype, something where developer productivity trumps all other considerations,it basically doesn't matter what you use. Use whatever gets the job done." On quora there is a topic called "How much credibility does the post "Don't use MongoDB" have?" One of answers was provided by a guy called Gaëtan Voyer-Perrault. He answered a lot question about MongoDB, for example you may check his answer "Which companies have moved away from MongoDB and why? What did they move to?"

4. Having said that I need to emphasize that it was based on my experience in 2017 & 2018. I don't how much has changed since then.

5. Knowing the concept of no-sql, key value store is probably equally important if someone wants to know mongo. So maybe you can teach your student redis. To learn redis I will recommend "redis in action", it is free ebook you can read here https://redislabs.com/ebook/redis-in-action/

6. Knowing modern javascript is the foundation, which I recommend https://javascript.info/. When I started to learn js I remembered I thought about buying the book "JavaScript: The Definitive Guide" But that book has 700 pages I remembered after seeing the page number I just gave it up. Reading 700 pages book to learn js is "just insane". "eloquent javascript" is another popular book I see people recommend https://eloquentjavascript.net/ but I only read "modern javascript"

7. A project not too simple and not complicated to tinker with is important. I remembered I played with this https://github.com/OmarElGabry/chat.io a lot, "A Real Time Chat Application built using Node.js, Express, Mongoose, Socket.io, Passport, & Redis." I also tried meteor but I find it is too complicated for beginner and maybe not a good choice for a full stack app. But that is just my assessment.