Egypt

A True Book

by Howard Gutner

A basic overview of the history, geography, culture and people of Egypt.

Genres: History

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book Egypt by Howard Gutner is a highly informational book about the country of Egypt. Its pages are filled with colorful photographs of the people and the culture, and of course, no book on Egypt would be complete without talking about the Egyptian gods and ancient ruins. This book would be suitable for a sixth grade student, because I know that many sixth grade world civilization courses cover ancient Egypt history.

I would compare this book to The Adventures of Indiana Jones by Campbell Black, James Kahn, and Rob MacGregor. This book is an adaptation of the popular Indiana Jones films. Both books occur in the same setting with a great deal of overlapping content. Both books deal with ancient pyramids, Egyptian gods, the desert, and hieroglyphics. In this case, I feel that it would be more of an impact to have the students read the non-fiction book first, in order to acquire some type of background knowledge and then read The Adventures of Indiana Jones. Having a basic understanding of Egyptian culture would make the Jones book more meaningful and easier to understand.

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The pictures were fabulous, and if you were exactly 10, this book would be pretty good. The concept was genius - "A True Book." The writing failed miserably. The format is definitely for elementary school age kids, but it introduces words like economy, exports, ruling parties, and politics. The kids who could actually benefit from this type of "Clif's Notes" on Egypt would be too embarrassed to be seen reading a children's book. A major disappointment.