Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht

by Richard Platt, David Parkins (Illustrator)

Overview

"A fresh, lively voice. . . . Replete with details of daily life." — Kirkus Reviews

The year is 1464 BC, and Nakht’s family is moving to the city of Memphis. Nakht, who is studying to be a scribe, keeps a journal of the many sights and sounds of the bustling city — temples and pyramids, cargo ships, a hippopotamus hunt, even a tomb robbery. Presented as a lively diary, here is an invitation for readers to witness firsthand what life was like for one boy in Egypt 3,500 years ago.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763670542
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	04/22/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,221,145
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 5.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	960L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

RICHARD PLATT has written more than forty nonfiction books for children. Ever since he first saw the leathery face of a mummy in the British museum, ancient Egypt has fascinated him. EGYPTIAN DIARY: THE JOURNAL OF NAKHT is his third book in the colorful series that includes CASTLE DIARY and the Kate Greenaway Medal winner PIRATE DIARY (both illustrated by Chris Riddell). Richard Platt lives in Kent, England.

DAVID PARKINS has illustrated numerous books for children, including WEBSTER J. DUCK, written by Martin Waddell. About EGYPTIAN DIARY, he says, "It can be difficult to make the leap of imagination from the highly stylized Egyptian paintings we see in museums to what daily life was really like. My job was to take these characters and make them believable, to give them expression and personality, and to bring their world to life." David Parkins lives in Lincoln, England.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 3-6-Platt's oversize, illustrated story offers a careful presentation of daily life during the reign of Pharaoh Hatshepsut (ca. 1475 B.C.E.). The central story is about young Nakht's family's move to Memphis because of his father's promotion. The journey, followed by settling into life in a big city and going to school to become a scribe, provides the boy's wide eyes with plenty of fodder for his journal. The chief subplot, involving a corrupt official and tomb robbing, supplies a hint of mystery and danger, along with the excitement of meeting the "king," whom Nakht and his sister are surprised to learn is a woman. Farming, hunting, home remodeling, feasting, and funerals are all examined through Nakht's eyes. Parkins's informative pictures include spot art as well as full-page and full-spread illustrations. Detailed scenes show women grinding flour to make bread, potters at the wheel, and even a hippopotamus hunt. The backgrounds are realistic and even beautiful while the characters-whether strongly built soldiers and workmen, lean children, or overweight overseers-display lifelike bodies with generally exaggerated facial features. Endnotes include short essays about how we know about ancient Egypt, how society was organized, and other topics, along with a time line that runs along the bottom of six pages. Bridging the gaps between nonfiction and historical fiction and between easy readers and longer novels, this title should be popular with children who have acquired a taste for the ancient world.-Coop Renner, Hillside Elementary, El Paso, TX Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Platt takes readers back more than 1,500 years, for a look at ancient Egyptian life from the point of view of a young scribe-in-training. Delighted to leave "dusty, dull Esna" behind for the wonders of Memphis, Nakht reports in a fresh, lively voice on his trip down the Nile, his experiences at home, in school, on an unsuccessful hippo hunt and elsewhere. Parkins adds a mix of vignettes and big, brawling street scenes featuring crowds of brown, bare-chested men with shaved heads and exaggerated expressions. Ultimately, for their roles in nabbing a crew of grave robbers Nakht and his big sister Tanyt are presented to the Pharaoh Hatshepsut-a woman, to their astonishment!-and Nakht enters manhood with a side-lock shaving ceremony. Replete with details of daily life and followed by several spreads of factual commentary, plus an index and source list, this chatty, oversized narrative makes a more engaging, if less grand, visit to the past than Stephen Biesty's Egypt in Spectacular Cross-Section (Sept. 2005). (Fiction. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews

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