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Ricky's Dream Trip to the Ancient Worlds of Egypt, Greece and Rome
This is a combination of three award-winning Ricky's Dream Trip books now in one volume with added information for classroom use and at-home activities. Ricky travels to the Ancient world through his dreams with his pop pop by his side. In Egypt, the land of the Pharaohs and pyramids he meets the boy prince, Tutankhamen, in a search for a beloved missing pet. Immerse yourself in the culture of Ancient Egypt with this terrific adventure. Next Ricky and Pop Pop meet Aristotle as they visit the land of the Ancient Olympics, see the temple of Athena, and help Alexander the Great! In the third time-bending dream trip adventure to Ancient Rome the fate of Julius Caesar, one of Rome's greatest leaders, hangs in the balance. It is up to Ricky to confront his own fears and change the course of history.
95 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2022
36 people want to read
About the author
William Stevenson
201 books72 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
William Stevenson was a British-born Canadian author and journalist. His 1976 book "A Man Called Intrepid" was about William Stephenson (no relation) and was a best-seller. It was made into a 1979 mini-series starring David Niven and Stevenson followed it up with a 1983 book titled "Intrepid's Last Case."
Stevenson set a record with another 1976 book, "90 Minutes at Entebbe." The book was about Operation Entebbe, an operation where Israeli commandos secretly landed at night at Entebbe Airport in Uganda and succeeded in rescuing the passengers of an airliner hi-jacked by Palestinian militants, while incurring very few casualties. The remarkable record in that pre-internet age is that Stevenson's "instant book" was written, edited, printed and available for sale within weeks of the event it described.
William Stevenson was a British-born Canadian author and journalist. His 1976 book "A Man Called Intrepid" was about William Stephenson (no relation) and was a best-seller. It was made into a 1979 mini-series starring David Niven and Stevenson followed it up with a 1983 book titled "Intrepid's Last Case."
Stevenson set a record with another 1976 book, "90 Minutes at Entebbe." The book was about Operation Entebbe, an operation where Israeli commandos secretly landed at night at Entebbe Airport in Uganda and succeeded in rescuing the passengers of an airliner hi-jacked by Palestinian militants, while incurring very few casualties. The remarkable record in that pre-internet age is that Stevenson's "instant book" was written, edited, printed and available for sale within weeks of the event it described.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 2, 2023
Thanks for this review copy @books_that_make_you
Ricky and PopPop go on adventure through ancient times. Well, not like time traveling but in Ricky’s dreams.
After every chapter you can find puzzles.
On my ereader the letters were really small, and I couldn’t change that. So that was a little bit annoying 🤣.
A lot of facts within the book, they were facts I allready knew. But that’s not that strange. This is a children’s book and I’m not a child anymore 🤣.
The drawings were cute and a little bit basic. But still liked them.
I think this is an awesome book for children around age 8-10, who want to know more about history. The puzzles in the book also make it a bit interactive. I think that really matches the book itself.
The book were all short stories, with a similar start. I would have liked it more when it would be 1 story.
But when I would still be a child, I would have probably absolutely liked this book.
Ricky and PopPop go on adventure through ancient times. Well, not like time traveling but in Ricky’s dreams.
After every chapter you can find puzzles.
On my ereader the letters were really small, and I couldn’t change that. So that was a little bit annoying 🤣.
A lot of facts within the book, they were facts I allready knew. But that’s not that strange. This is a children’s book and I’m not a child anymore 🤣.
The drawings were cute and a little bit basic. But still liked them.
I think this is an awesome book for children around age 8-10, who want to know more about history. The puzzles in the book also make it a bit interactive. I think that really matches the book itself.
The book were all short stories, with a similar start. I would have liked it more when it would be 1 story.
But when I would still be a child, I would have probably absolutely liked this book.
June 25, 2023
I requested this one hoping to find something useful for my 6th grade ancient world classroom. It didn't happen. I know the target age is young for 6th grade, but it was much lower than I thought from the description.
I had trouble finishing it and not because of the target age. The writing is stilted and just plain boring because the sentence structure was simple and repetitive. For example, there is no reason for the grandfather to remind Ricky that this is his dream so he can do what he wants so very often. It's almost as if the text is for a younger audience, but for that it is much too long. There are better, more engaging stories targeted at the same age. Pick up one of those. Save yourself the pain and pick up the much more engaging Magic Tree House series, which is suitable for ages 5-8. #3 deals with ancient Egypt, #16 is ancient Greece, and #31 deals with ancient Rome. They also have non-fiction companions that my daughter gobbled up at this age. I recommend the author and publisher do the same to improve this series.
I had trouble finishing it and not because of the target age. The writing is stilted and just plain boring because the sentence structure was simple and repetitive. For example, there is no reason for the grandfather to remind Ricky that this is his dream so he can do what he wants so very often. It's almost as if the text is for a younger audience, but for that it is much too long. There are better, more engaging stories targeted at the same age. Pick up one of those. Save yourself the pain and pick up the much more engaging Magic Tree House series, which is suitable for ages 5-8. #3 deals with ancient Egypt, #16 is ancient Greece, and #31 deals with ancient Rome. They also have non-fiction companions that my daughter gobbled up at this age. I recommend the author and publisher do the same to improve this series.
July 30, 2023
I love a good children’s book and this is one! The author has excelled in providing an informative and appealing perspective on historical events.
The storyline is an accurate portrayal of three important times in history. The illustrations are spot on for catching a child’s attention, either in the school setting or at home with a parent.
The connection between the child’s relationship with his grandfather and the precise nature of the storytelling makes this book a great addition to anyone’s book collection.
The activities included are a great way to cement the overall learning experience, without being overly complicated.
Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The storyline is an accurate portrayal of three important times in history. The illustrations are spot on for catching a child’s attention, either in the school setting or at home with a parent.
The connection between the child’s relationship with his grandfather and the precise nature of the storytelling makes this book a great addition to anyone’s book collection.
The activities included are a great way to cement the overall learning experience, without being overly complicated.
Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
August 10, 2023
The first story is about a dream trip to Ancient Egypt, to help a young pharaoh cheer up. This book does a fun take on showing kids what Ancient Egypt was like, via a dream the kid has about adventures with his grandfather. I love the special bond they have, that manifests in his dreams of adventures.
As a child, I absolutely was obsessed with Ancient Egypt. It was my favorite subject in school and I grabbed many books on it from the library. I can't recall the exact age I was, but likely around the age of our main character.
I liked how we get to visit a variety of locations with our new friends, all while searching for a missing beloved pet cat. Of course it's a cat, it's Egypt after all. At the end we get a surprise.
The next story takes us to Ancient Greece, where our main character gets to participate in the original Olympics. Though the rest of the story was a bit farfetched as they were going to search for Alexander the Great on the battlefield, and then stopped to teach Alexander to play a musical instrument. That part felt kind of silly. But I liked the horse race part of the Olympics and the similar story to Alexander's horse.
The final story in this collection was the dream trip to Ancient Rome. Here we get to experience a bit of Julius Caesar history that I didn't know about.
I liked the illustrations, as unique as they are. We have a backdrop of the Ancient lands, and the characters are almost like paper doll puppets, separate from the background. While the paper doll doddles are simple, they are also quite cute and interesting to look at. The backdrops themselves also seem to be layered paper and the imagery is representative of their times.
I liked and both disliked how often the grandfather reminded Ricky this was all his dream and he could do whatever he wanted. That's not quite how dreams work, as we have little control of what we dream about in our sleep. But that kept taking me out of the experience. In general the writing style was simple, and easy to follow, but maybe at a lower level than 12 year old. I also didn't like how the names were in a smaller and harder to read font than the rest of the text.
I did like how the book goes past the dream story and teaches important facts - like the pages showing hieroglyphics and even the activities and puzzles to solve. There are even maps of the Ancient lands.
September 6, 2023
I read this book as a pre-release e-book obtained through NetGalley, provided by the publisher.
This book is an anthology of three previously-published books by this author, all with a copyright of 2012.
The books each begin with Ricky going to sleep, and meeting his grandfather, PopPop. Either Ricky wants to go somewhere in particular and meet someone in particular because of his school work, or PopPop decides where they will go and who they’ll meet.
Each of these books is stuffed with historical facts about these ancient cultures, written simply as to be suitable for a child. Everything about Greece and Rome is accurate, although for Egypt, it’s somewhat simplified as depicted through popular culture. For instance, PopPop tells Ricky we don’t know how pyramids were built (we do), and we know why the ruler of Egypt was called “Pharaoh” means – it’s a compound of words meaning “house” and “big”, so the ruler was the one who lived in the big house – and ruled from there. They could have gone much farther explaining the reverence accorded cats by ancient Egyptians – they were divine! It was a death-penalty offense for anyone to kill a cat. So, OF COURSE would feed Bastet and treat her as a goddess!
It became a bit repetitive for PopPop to keep reminding Ricky it was his dream, and he could make it go however he wanted. The language seems a bit “young” for a 12-year old – this is more suitable to an 8-year-old. A 12-year-old might feel offended by being offered such a book. For younger children to read themselves or as a book for an adult to read to a child and show them pictures (illustrations), this book is a good introduction to ancient cultures.
This book is an anthology of three previously-published books by this author, all with a copyright of 2012.
The books each begin with Ricky going to sleep, and meeting his grandfather, PopPop. Either Ricky wants to go somewhere in particular and meet someone in particular because of his school work, or PopPop decides where they will go and who they’ll meet.
Each of these books is stuffed with historical facts about these ancient cultures, written simply as to be suitable for a child. Everything about Greece and Rome is accurate, although for Egypt, it’s somewhat simplified as depicted through popular culture. For instance, PopPop tells Ricky we don’t know how pyramids were built (we do), and we know why the ruler of Egypt was called “Pharaoh” means – it’s a compound of words meaning “house” and “big”, so the ruler was the one who lived in the big house – and ruled from there. They could have gone much farther explaining the reverence accorded cats by ancient Egyptians – they were divine! It was a death-penalty offense for anyone to kill a cat. So, OF COURSE would feed Bastet and treat her as a goddess!
It became a bit repetitive for PopPop to keep reminding Ricky it was his dream, and he could make it go however he wanted. The language seems a bit “young” for a 12-year old – this is more suitable to an 8-year-old. A 12-year-old might feel offended by being offered such a book. For younger children to read themselves or as a book for an adult to read to a child and show them pictures (illustrations), this book is a good introduction to ancient cultures.
September 14, 2023
From the cover to the last page, I was whisked away into a dreamlike realm, embarking on an unparalleled adventure. The historical insights were enriching, and the poignant bond between a grandfather and his grandchild deeply resonated with me. The real love threaded throughout the series was heartwarming. The illustrations evoked the essence of a dynamic storyboard, where one could almost peel off the stickers and craft an entirely new tale. I was particularly charmed by the idea of young kindergarteners using Ricky's dream stickers to spin their own narratives, potentially giving birth to another timeless tale of Ricky's dream. The sprinkling of intriguing facts and learning moments was captivating, presenting lessons children might not encounter in traditional educational settings. I've always had a soft spot for enlightening tales. This series should unequivocally top every parent's "must-buy" list for their young ones.
September 16, 2023
"Ricky's Dream Trip to the Ancient Worlds of Egypt, Greece and Rome" is a collection of three stories, each one featuring 11-(or 12-) year old Ricky and his grandfather as they go exploring through history in Ricky's dreams. In each of the stories they met and help influential historical figures - which in turn helps prepare Ricky for events back in the waking world.
At the end of each story there is a section about the history of the region/time portrayefd in the stories, and related activities.
The book was filled with colourful collage-style ilustrations, and the text contained to clear, uncluttered text boxes. Key words and names were highlighted in different fonts (a smaller font than the surrounding text).
An excellent book for kids interested in ancient history.
~Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~
At the end of each story there is a section about the history of the region/time portrayefd in the stories, and related activities.
The book was filled with colourful collage-style ilustrations, and the text contained to clear, uncluttered text boxes. Key words and names were highlighted in different fonts (a smaller font than the surrounding text).
An excellent book for kids interested in ancient history.
~Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~
November 30, 2023
Join Ricky as he travels the Ancient world with his Pop Pop. Together in his dreams, they visit Egypt, Athens, and Rome where Ricky must confront his fears to change the course of history.
This collection brings together three award-winning Ricky’s Dream Trip books with added information for classroom or homeschool use, and at-home activities. It’s obvious at first glance this is not your typical (boring) history lesson. Approachable illustrations pop off the page and the story is both engaging and easy to follow along.
Read our full review: https://travelnitch.org/rickys-dream-...
This collection brings together three award-winning Ricky’s Dream Trip books with added information for classroom or homeschool use, and at-home activities. It’s obvious at first glance this is not your typical (boring) history lesson. Approachable illustrations pop off the page and the story is both engaging and easy to follow along.
Read our full review: https://travelnitch.org/rickys-dream-...
December 18, 2024
Thank you to YABC and William Stevenson, Ed.D. for a copy of Ricky's Dream Trip to the Ancient Worlds of Egypt, Greece and Rome.
This is the first book of Dr. Stevenson's that I've read. I am going to give the book to a friend who has children. I think she will really appreciate the educational and entertaining telling of Ricky visiting the ancient worlds.
Ricky and his beloved PopPop visit each place and learn about it's history in an easy to understand text that also shared easy to understand illustrations. I loved the search for Tut's cat, the history of the Olympics and Rome's Julius.
This is the first book of Dr. Stevenson's that I've read. I am going to give the book to a friend who has children. I think she will really appreciate the educational and entertaining telling of Ricky visiting the ancient worlds.
Ricky and his beloved PopPop visit each place and learn about it's history in an easy to understand text that also shared easy to understand illustrations. I loved the search for Tut's cat, the history of the Olympics and Rome's Julius.
August 26, 2023
William Stevenson weaves a magical tale that takes readers on a remarkable journey through time and space, immersing them in the rich history and captivating landscapes of three iconic ancient civilizations. Blending fantasy with educational elements, he creates a unique reading experience that is both entertaining and informative. Recommended for young readers and anyone with an interest in history and imaginative storytelling.
September 20, 2023
If history books were written and illustrated like this, most kids would love history lessons. I always liked history, but having a book like this one would have make it more interesting for all of us.
July 19, 2023
This book is a combination of three of the Ricky's Dream Trip books…which is pretty cool, especially for homeschool parents who like to use it along with their curriculum.
The illustrations in this book are striking and the history lessons are fun without being boring. I really think this book is a nice mix of humor, art, and interesting tidbits. It was something both my son and I really enjoyed!! If you have a kid who is into history, you need to get them a copy of this book. I HIGHLY recommend it!!
The illustrations in this book are striking and the history lessons are fun without being boring. I really think this book is a nice mix of humor, art, and interesting tidbits. It was something both my son and I really enjoyed!! If you have a kid who is into history, you need to get them a copy of this book. I HIGHLY recommend it!!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews