In The Footsteps: Mummy, The (In the Footsteps of) [Library Binding]

Katie Roden (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Series: In the Footsteps of

Explores the world of hidden tombs, the art of embalming, terrible curses, and the living dead.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6?Information on mummies interspersed with a horror story based on the superstitions that originated with the discovery of King Tut's tomb. While interweaving fact and fiction works as an attention-getter, it's not always made clear that the fictional parts?straight out of late-night horror flicks?and their characters are not real. The factual material is good, even if the story is cliched. The focus is mainly on the Egyptian practices of mummification and on the past European crazes for mummies for medicinal and ornamental use. Roden also covers topics like "Mummies in the Movies" and "Mummies of the Future." The full-color illustrations capture a sense of both the desert and spooky Victorian streets through lots of blacks and oranges. The full-color photographs are basically good, though not on a par with, or as numerous as, those in James Putnam's Mummy (Knopf, 1993). Much of what's here is equally well?or better?presented in James M. Deem's How to Make a Mummy Talk (Houghton, 1995) and Nathaniel Harris's Mummies (Watts, 1995). There's nothing new in Roden's title, but it is an acceptable addition if you need to beef up your mummy files.?Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 40 pages
• Publisher: Copper Beech (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761304517
• ISBN-13: 978-0761304517
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,480,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars The intertwined fact and fiction blurs the line between them, September 15, 2006

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: In the Footsteps of the Mummy (Paperback)

I found this book to be slightly objectionable. There are two concurrent threads running throughout the book. On the left side is a fictional tale about the mummy of Prince Ahmosis of Egypt. When his tomb is entered by grave robbers, they grab the left hand at the wrist and it breaks off. Later, an archeologist named Alfred Travers empties the tomb of all valuables, including the body of Ahmosis, for shipment to a museum. Later, in a western country, the disarticulated hand of Ahmosis is presented to Rachel Winters on her twenty-first birthday. That night she places the hand on her mantle and the body of Ahmosis comes to life in a search for his missing hand.
During the search, Ahmosis brutally kills several humans. While this is happening, his hand continues to increase its activity and Rachel takes it to an archeologist who learns the spells needed to prevent Ahmosis from attacking Rachel. They succeed in reuniting Ahmosis with his hand moments before he attacks Rachel.
On the right side of the book is a series of factual descriptions of mummies, what they are, how they were made and several of the major finds. By itself it is a very accurate statement of what mummies are and what we know about them. The problem in my mind is how the two tales are somehow blurred. Putting them side-by-side is a subtle indication that what is on the left side has some truth to it. Which is nonsense, as several historians have conclusively shown, the curse of the mummy is largely a myth generated by the media. If both threads had to appear in the book, it would have been much better if they had been sequential.