I have quite a few books on Ancient Egypt. This is my favourite.

You don’t need to know anything to read it and understand. You could know all the theory and I believe you’d still flick through the large pages, studying each picture following the interactions of the characters with a sense of wonder. It doesn’t matter if you’re five, or 105, this is a book accessible and enticing for all.
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I checked this out because I admire Stephen Biesty's work and I have recently been reading Amelia Peobody mysteries. These mysteries, at least the earlier ones in the series, which are all I have read, revolve around archaeological expeditions in the late 1800s. I hoped that this book would give me a view of the present of the past which is being dug up and speculated on in the Amelia Peabody books. It is somewhat good for that.

It follows a narrative in which a ship proceeds from far south on the River Nile north to the delta, stopping off at various locations and trading various items. This is a good device, matching the geographic features of the Nile with the temporal events of the story. The illustrations always occupy both pages. They have considerable detail: little easter eggs, and many cutaways and enlargements. As always with Biesty they show his considerable skill. I do not consider that his book "Man-of-War" should be shelved in the children's section, as it has explicit images of human torture. This book is more on the line, as some of the easter eggs are horrific accidents: bad falls, very large stones falling and crushing people, etc. That's not the same as torture, though, and it is realistic. Biesty's honesty in drawing cow, human, bird shit is rather appreciated by this reviewer. There is a dramatic drawing of a hippopotamus hunt. Would even the most intrepid ancient Egyptian dare risk lassoing a hippo?

Biesty's later book with Stephen Ross, "Explorers", is much more focused and I enjoyed it more. But this book is still a fine example of Biesty's work.

I find the Egyptian burial practices extremely tedious, but they sure were a boon to archaeologists.

There was a word that I considered worth looking up: hypostyle. ( )

Another spectacular children's book for all ages with fantastic drawing of Ancient Egypt. Great way to study how Egypt's ancient structures may have been built.

FROM AMAZON: The year is 1230 B.C., during the reign of Ramses the Great in ancient Egypt. Follow the thirty-day voyage of the eleven-year-old Dedia and his father as they sail down the Nile River.

Travel along with father and son as they visit the bustling harbor at Elephantine; the massive stone quarry at Gebel el-Silsila; the temples at Karnak; underground tombs in The Valley of the Kings; a funeral and mummification; the step pyramid at Saqqara; and Ramses' lavish palace at Piramesse. Quite a journey! ( )