Review of “Ancient Egypt for Kids” by Samuel Cerro

Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)

Ancient Egypt for Kids is a short, sweet, and incredibly educational book about Ancient Egypt intended for children. It can be fascinating for parents, teachers, and other adults as well!

Growing up, many of us were enthralled with ancient civilizations like the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. This book is such a welcomed little surprise. The art may not be spectacular, appearing chibi-like or similar to what you'd see in an Infographics episode, but it serves its function. You can't fault the author for that. Very intricate art can actually be distracting sometimes (not to mention expensive). The main draw of this book is that it presents information in a fun, simple, easy-to-understand, colorful, and exciting way!

You can just tell the care and passion that the author has for the subject matter.

One of the things we appreciated the most was when the book covered many of the contributions that the Egyptians made to the modern world and future generations. For example, the Egyptians invented papyrus, which allowed ancient people to be able to write their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs onto paper. Imagine if, for example, the Hebrews did not have access to something to write on. That's a sobering thought! The Egyptians also gave us sundials, makeup, cosmetics, and the solar calendar. They literally helped to shape the world for future generations and civilizations!

This is so important for kids to know because it helps them to overcome the idea of “the other” or that there's “us and them.” Often, we get so caught up in our nationalism and infatuation with western things that originated in Greece and Rome that we forget that we were also very heavily influenced by things that went on in the Levant and Asia.

We also loved that this book, despite being for kids, didn't sugarcoat things. Early on, you see pottery art of Egypt's king, Narmar, slaying a prisoner or a rival king. It's not graphic by any means, but it's there. Most kids likely won't understand what's even going on in the image and will likely just see it as a king doing something or being silly. Kids pull their siblings' hairs all the time after all. A similar case is that it shows the institution of slavery in Ancient Egypt, although not mentioned by name. There's little question what the guys with the whips and the people working for them are doing. Again, though, it's not graphic. We'd rather it be shown this way than not shown at all, which would be disingenuous. Slavery was a thing back then and was more than likely used to build Egypt's impressive structures.

This book also introduces kids to the Egyptian mythological pantheon. They might love hearing about Bastet and pet cats, especially if they have a pet cat themselves!

This book is not a chore to go through. It's pleasant surprise after pleasant surprise. You'll find yourself looking forward to the next page and wondering what topic is going to covered next.

We highly recommend this on Amazon!