Mummies: Dried, Tanned, Sealed, Drained, Frozen, Embalmed, Stuffed, Wrapped, and Smoked...and We're Dead Serious

by Christopher Sloan

Investigate mysteries from the grave in this vividly illustrated book, a creepy-fun compendium of the world’s most fascinating mummies. National Geographic’s unparalleled photographs bring kids up close and personal with ancient remains, while Chris Sloan’s mesmerizing text reveals what the experts have discovered about each mummy’s life and death. Kids will clamor to read this book in the classroom or at home—and they’ll absorb science, ancient cultures, geography, and more, as freaky photos and intriguing stories keep them glued to every page.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Egypt, Science, Juvenile

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2010

Reviews

[Joe Krakovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I will read a children's book because it looks interesting and has plenty of illustrations, and not just because I am immature. Well, maybe I am at times but the fact remains that a well written book can give you the jest of the topic without 200+ pages of filler material that you find in a big boy book. "Mummies: Dried, Tanned, Sealed, Drained, Frozen, Embalmed, Stuffed, Wrapped, and Smoked ... and We're Dead Serious" is such a book. Even though the title tries to make up in word count what the text is lacking, this has plenty of info to get you started if you want to dig deeper. Just don't page through it while eating breakfast!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This National Geographic Kids book is awesome! What a clever way to learn about mummies - by organizing them by type. It is fascinating to look at this subject this way and to see how people have been preserved by different cultures around the world and through time. The photographs are great, the organization logical, and the information interesting. There was enough there to learn, but not too much to be overwhelming. I love that each type of preservation method has different "case studies". If your kids are into archaeology or mummies or even just science, this book is really impressive. Highly recommend.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was loads of fun to read if you enjoy this subject. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable on the subject and I learned a lot. The enjoyment that the author has for the subject comes through clearly. In spite of an almost rigid layout plan, there was room for lots of flexibility in covering the subject. The two charts at the end were fantastic! One was a timeline of when famous mummies lived and their historical eras or cultural periods. The other showed a map of the world and where the mummies mentioned in the book as well as a huge number of other mummies were found along with basic stats such as name of mummy, where found and when the mummy had been alive. That last is probably key to one thing that made this book special: the author never loses sight that these mummies were people with stories that go along with a person't life. One probably trivial caveat: I'm not sure that most specialists would consider an embalmed body, a mummy such as Lenin. Otherwise, I really can't find anything to pick at in this book! Did I mention how spectacular the photos were or is that just taken for granted if National Geographic puts out the book?

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2010, Mummies is a bit of an “oldie but goodie”. The real star of this nonfiction guide to mummies is of course National Geographic’s stunning photography. This is a veritable feast for the eyes, be that a slightly disgusting feast – just look at the face on that cover! Talk about grabbing kids’ attention. Make no mistake, though, this book’s no lightweight in the information department – kids will be fascinated and pleasantly disgusted by the images, but they’ll also be exposed to a variety of carefully researched facts and figures. Everything’s delivered with a bit of a sense of humour (as evidenced in the title) to balance out any potentially disturbing or frightening information or images. This is nonfiction the way it should be – engaging, exciting and visually appealing.

[Erin Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, there went my appetite. Not for those with weak stomached, but full of lots of information and images that might make your toes curl a little. The good thing about this book is that while things inside it's pages are still creepy and images look gross and/or scary, it's not all set up to be horrifying and rather leans towards just trying to be informative with some bits to note how mysterious and unsettling mummies and their histories are/were. I'd still err on the side of caution in giving this book to small children as this could be nightmare inducing, but more mature kids might not fair too bad with it.

I honestly didn't realize that there were still cultures or places that recently have (and still do) mummify dead persons. I know there is embalming, but seeing the timeline of mummies and knowing how recent some were done was surprising to me.

[Lisa Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a fascinating subject. A quick engaging read. There were some mummies in this one that I had not heard/read about before. Lots of great photos. Gorgeous books.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 3 out of 5]

*donated at Book Fair
Not for the weak stomached reader, this compact text tells what happens to us when we are drained, frozen and even smoked. The various forms of mummification are both horrifying as well as fascinating. Particularly interesting to me were the babies and the bog man (whose hair was red due to being found in the bog). His throat was slashed, and locals believed him to be a recent victim until scientists discovered that he was, in fact, over 1600 years old. My middle grade readers will love this one!
*great for teaching elements of NF

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing short book about mummies from around the world, from Chile and Peru to China, Sicily and Papua New Guinea. We saw some of these mummies at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry's "Mummies" traveling presentation back in 2013.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit gruesome, but very informative. Not for the easily grossed out!

[Josephine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up for the kids because I thought it was so well done. They’ve read it and are telling me about it! So, kid tested, mother approved.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting categories for cov ering, but not my cup of tea.