Cleopatra: "Serpent of the Nile"

The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Dastardly Dames

by Mary Fisk Pack, Peter Malone (Illustrator)

The richest, most powerful woman in the world, Cleopatra ruled the East and tamed the West. With both cunning and charm, she beguiled two of the most famous men in history, entwining Egypt’s destiny with Rome’s. Many believed she was as sly as a serpent. Or was she just smart?

Gorgeous illustrations and an intelligent, evocative story bring to life a real dastardly dame who, despite her schemes, lost everything—including her beloved homeland.

Genres: History, Picture Books, Biography, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2011

About the author

Mary Fisk Pack is an elementary school teacher. She lives in northern California.

Reviews

[Conan Tigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleopatra "Serpent of the Nile" is an interesting and well-organized book about the dastardly dame known as Cleopatra. The dark brown backgrounds with white text on each page really make this book feel warm and inviting. I loved the maps and all of the interesting pictures and illustrations. But what really stood out for me was the woman herself. I never really studied about Cleopatra in school and did not know that she dated Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. I was quite shocked by this bit of information that I should already have known about. Well, now I do thanks to this book.

Right form the first page, I was hooked on this illustrated biography about Cleopatra. I love historical figures and think that this book would make a great resource for any student trying to write a paper about the Queen of the Nile. The text is nice and big and written in a way that I highly enjoyed. I found my wife continuously peeking over my shoulder as I read. I knew she was hooked when she told me to turn the page.

I really liked that the book is not a big and dry biography. Rather, it is only 29 pages long and full of interesting facts and details. It will not take days for a young reader to read through this entire book. It took me about than 30 minutes and I know that if I had to write a report about Cleopatra for school, I could do a bang up job having read this book.

Overall, Cleopatra "Serpent of the Nile" is an excellent book that young readers should really enjoy. It is filled with a lot of great information. Any young reader that is interested in Cleopatra will absolutely love this book. As a former elementary school teacher, I highly recommend this book.

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.

[Yomna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleopatra has accomplished many things like surviving the desert and leading armies but she also wants to protect her kingdom and her loved ones, through that process she sacrifices many things.