Egypt: In Spectacular Cross-section [Hardcover]

Stewart Ross (Author), Stephen Biesty (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Egypt

Million-copy best-selling creator of the Incredible Cross-Sections series now brings his talent to a new challenge: ancient Egypt.

The year is 1230 B.C., during the reign of Ramses the Great in ancient Egypt. Follow the thirty-day voyage of the eleven-year-old Dedia and his father as they sail down the Nile River.

Travel along with father and son as they visit the bustling harbor at Elephantine; the massive stone quarry at Gebel el-Silsila; the temples at Karnak; underground tombs in The Valley of the Kings; a funeral and mummification; the step pyramid at Saqqara; and Ramses' lavish palace at Piramesse. Quite a journey!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-7–Employing his large, trademark cross-section or cut-away style illustrations that are full of detail and bustling small figures, Biesty, supported by Ross, uses the fictional construct of family members traveling to a wedding as a way of exploring various aspects of daily life in Egypt around the year 1230 B.C.E. The main narrative consists of not more than 1000 words, providing the broad outline of the journey and information about the sights along the way. The longer supplementary text includes labels identifying characters and objects in the illustrations; short paragraphs explaining what readers are looking at; and additional paragraphs providing more general information. Of course, the book's raison d'être is the artwork. Laid out in panoramic spreads, it demonstrates such important subjects as how the Egyptians farmed their land after the annual Nile flood, how their houses were constructed and utilized, and what went on at a busy harbor. Most of the information is available in other books, although such topics as hippo hunts and restrooms are less common. But the amount of detail included in Biesty's illustrations and the attention required to ferret all of it out make the book as visually stimulating as Martin Handford's Where's Waldo titles and almost as useful as the longer, more architectural books by David Macaulay. Librarians might be reduced to using magnifying glasses, but students with sharp eyes and an interest in ancient Egypt will have no trouble extracting what they want to know.–Coop Renner, Hillside Elementary, El Paso, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4. It isn't always easy to parse the intricate, sliced-and-diced diagrams of illustrator Biesty's cross-section books, which have covered a variety of subjects. But even newcomers to the books will quickly see the advantages of the versatile premise, which not only allows readers to see cross-sections of structures and landscapes but also demonstrates how a single layer, such as the uppermost contour of a limestone quarry, might change over time. In this title, which takes readers back to Ramses II-era Egypt, a slight story about a young boy's first trip down the Nile with his merchant father links 10 featured sites, each of which is minutely rendered and elaborately annotated with facts, commentary, and labeled pointers that locate recurring characters within the busy tableau. Particularly appealing to children will be the tiny, visual vignettes that contribute amusing levity to the epic goings-on; on almost every spread, there's at least one person (or animal) relieving itself. This isn't as scholarly as David Macaulay's Pyramid (1975), but many young readers will prefer this book's lavish colors and entertaining seek-and-find elements. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439745373
• ISBN-13: 978-0439745376
• Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 9.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Children's Books > History > Africa

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stephen Biesty's glorious cross-sections take us on a journey down the Nile, March 4, 2006

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Egypt: In Spectacular Cross-section (Hardcover)

The premise of "Egypt: In Spectacular Cross-Section," which features the captivating artwork of Stephen Biesty, is that eleven-year-old Dedia and his father, Captain Wennufer, undertake a 39-day journey down the Nile River during the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses the Great in the year 1230 B.C.E. Officially Ramses II, he is commonly believed to be the pharaoh of the Exodus, although this is in dispute. His mummy has been unwrapped, so that we can actually see what he looks like, although he is alive and well within the confines of this volume. Dedia and his father travel down the great river, delivery cargo as they go, eventually arriving at Piramesse, the site of the magnificent royal palace of Ramses. There Nebre, Dedia's uncle, a rich and important scribe, is getting married. The downside to the journey is that Dedia's stern aunt Meritate and know-it-all daughter Ipuia are coming along on the trip.

The journey is laid out in the first "chapter" (a two-page spread), so that you can see exactly what Dedia and his relatives will be visiting as they journey to the mouth of the Nile. Young readers get to see quarrying at Gebel el-Silsila, Amun-Ra's temple at Karnak (which is what you see on the cover), the Valley of the kings, the town of Deir el-Medina, where there is a funeral taking place for the headman (9involving the seven stages of mummification), Saqqara's Step Pyramid, the farmers working the fields of the fertile Nile, and finally Ramses' palace at Piramesse. The back of the book contains a Glossary of not only key terms, from "afterlife" to "Underworld," but lists of both the Kings and queens, as well as the deities, mentioned in the text (where you learn whose face is supposed to be on the Great Sphinx of Giza and the difference between Osiris and Horus).

The fun here is how Biesty's artwork reveals extraordinary details about life in ancient Egypt to an extent rarely seen outside of books asking the eternal question, "Where's Waldo?" Fortunately, the key details are labeled, such as the escaped monkeys on the ship docked at Elephantine, the accident at Amun-Ra's temple at Karnak, and the oven fueled by dried cow dung at the Deir el-Medina stopover. You will have no trouble spotting the pharaoh at his palace. Biesty's artwork is complimented the writings of Stewart Ross, Delia Pemberton, Joan Fletcher, and Edward Bleiberg, who evidently aided and abetted Biesty in his meticulous research and noteworthy attention to detail.

Consequently, the illustrations contained herein can claim to be as authoritative as they are beautiful. But they are also fun, because there are always unusual and funny activities and encounters in every scene. Still, the primary emphasis is on taking a look inside the major monuments and buildings in ancient Egypt and get a sense for how they were built, while also getting a clear indication of how these ancient people lived, worked, and played. Also available is a similar book on ancient Rome. If you have seen any of Biesty's cross-section books then you know already the value of this one. I can only add that the pricing of this volume makes it a great buy given everything that it contains.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book to Excite the Imagination, January 1, 2010

By 

Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Egypt in Spectacular Cross-Section (Paperback)

This book has a cursory story about a young boy and his family making a trip down the Nile. Along the way, they see ancient Egypt in all its glory. However, what this book is really about is Stephen Biesty's hyper kinetic illustrations. Biesty is a talented illustrator and his cross-sectional drawings are fascinating. The value of this book is that hopefully Biesty's captivating illustrations will lead a young reader onto further study. This is a beautiful book and can be purchased at a very reasonable price.