Opening in 1465 BC, in the eighth year of King Hatshepsut's reign, this engaging work of picture-book historical fiction follows the story of Nakht, the son of an ancient Egyptian scribe. Presented in diary format, the book follows Nakht and his family - mother and father, sister Tamyt, faithful servants, and feline companion Myt - as they move from the small town of Esna to the bustling city of Memphis. Here Nakht's father works as a scribe, while Nakht himself attends scribal school. In addition to all of the day-to-day events of their lives, Nakht and Tamyt play a role in capturing a ring of tomb robbers, and win an audience before the king herself...

One of four such historical picture-book diaries from Platt - the others include Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter and Roman Diary: The Journal of Iliona of Mytilini: Captured and Sold as a Slave in Rome - AD 107 - Egyptian Diary: The Journal of Nakht is both entertaining and educational, presenting a child's-eye view of life in ancient Egypt, and exploring everything from the duties of various kinds of scribes and officials to the ways in which food was prepared and the afterlife was viewed. I'm on something of an Ancient Egypt kick at the moment, and have been tracking down various children's book about the subject. This was an engaging addition to my shelf, and featured some fascinating information, an engrossing storyline, and appealing watercolor illustrations from David Parkins. I appreciated the mix of fictional and non-fictional elements, and think this title would work very well as a supplement in a study-unit on Ancient Egypt. For my own part, I enjoyed it enough that I plan to track down the other titles, mentioned above. Recommended to children who enjoy historical fiction and/or are fascinated by Ancient Egypt. It's a picture-book, but very text-heavy, so I'd say it would work best for middle-grade readers, or for younger children with a good attention span, when listening to read-alouds. ( )

(On behalf of my 9 year old : humouress)

This book is about a village when there's a flood coming and the family have to move. The girl goes missing when she tries to save her dog. They went to the house and they found her in the house. They escape just in time but some people stay behind. I'm only giving 3 * because it's not a very interesting story.

I would recommend this to people who like really old stories. I don't really like it. ( )

Lesson: How Are People Around the World Alike and Different?