1,000 Facts About Ancient Egypt – Book Review

Book Review
1,000 Facts About Ancient Egypt
Written by Nancy Honovich
Published by National Geographic, February 12, 2019

Why we chose this book:
I love learning about Ancient Egypt. T likes mummies. And National Geographic has never disappointed us yet. A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Mom's Review
If only I could have had this in my classroom. It would have been perfect for my Ancient Egypt unit, and my students would have loved it!

1,000 Facts About Ancient Egypt is exactly what it sounds like. It is a book from National Geographic that has 1,000 facts related to ancient Egypt. The vivid color photographs are exactly what you would expect from Nat'l Geo and could alone make the topic come alive. But they aren't alone. They are accompanied by 1,000 fascinating facts ranging from who hunted hippopotamuses to how the brain was removed before mummification to why Francis I of France swallowed ground bits of mummies each day to what inspired the song "Walk Like an Egyptian." Thirty-eight categories plus a map, glossary, timeline, and foreword cover an extensive range of subjects and go into great detail.

T and I flipped through, stopping at the boldest photographs. He was particularly interested in the photographs from Cleopatra movies and the statues of Julius Cesar. He has Playmobil figures of each and recognized (with a little prompting) their counterparts in the the book. T was also most interested in the mummification pages and the animals pages. The larger the photographs, the more appeal they held for him. Older children and adults will likely spend more time reading through the facts in order on each page – that's what I did without T. I found it hard to put down after T was ready to move on.

I would sum up 1,000 Facts About Ancient Egypt as accessible to all ages, fascinating, and fun.  I recommend it to anyone interested in ancient Egypt in the slightest.

Son's Review
(Age: 4)
On mongooses:
"It's cute. I would [want one]. I would cook the bird [it hunts]."

On sphinx:
"And I know they tell riddles to travelers and if they travelers can't solve the riddles, they gobble them up."

On warriors:
"What's a javelin? Mine have bows. They are the shapes of my shield!"