Back to Ancient Egypt we go, with the perfect book for inquisitive little investigators – Egypt Magnified by David Long and Harry Bloom. Another impressive hardback! Brightly coloured and bursting with detail, this search-and-find adventure book comes complete with its very own magnifying glass to help uncover all the smallest features hiding in each scene. And there is plenty to find! H loves any sort of ‘finding’ game, and had been learning how to use a magnifying glass at nursery, so when I spied this in Blackwells I knew we’d have to try it out. It has kept us busy!
Each two-page spread is based around a theme, from general scenes of everyday life and special occasions, to specific topics like the Great Pyramid, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, then stretching all the way to the Battle of Actium and even Howard Carter’s excavations. The mix of topics and periods keeps things interesting, and makes it easier to tackle a page or two at a time for those on the younger end of the scale.
Each lively scene has short simple paragraphs explaining what is happening, along with a list of ’10 Things to Spot’ with the magnifying glass. These ’10 Things’ also have a little description accompanying them, giving plenty of information in easy catchy snippets. H liked this part a lot – being able to tell stories about the wee people or objects he was searching for really held his attention, and prompted lots more questions. There’s also a couple of pages at the end reviewing some other hidden features in the scenes, with plenty of silliness that caused lots of giggles (angry swan, pooping horse…) We love a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously!
H likes exploring the inside tunnels of the Great Pyramid best (understandable!), finding cat mummies, and looking at the gigantic colourful hieroglyphics at the back. Making up really simple code-breaking activities to go along with these has been a great way for H to practice identifying and forming letters, as well as basic words and names. He’s asked to play with this so many times over the past few weeks! I think some Ancient Egypt themed crafts are in order next..
wee classics 