Customer Reviews

The Golden Goblet (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Puffin Newbery Library)

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I started reading this book aloud to my daughter, and I couldn't put it down after the first few chapters. I had to read the whole book to find out what happened to Ranofer, and to find out how he could resolve his problems with his abusive half-brother and fulfill his dreams.

Reading this book really helped spark my interest in learning more about ancient Eygpt. The book is beautifully descriptive, and made me feel like I was there. It really helped me see the beauty in that culture. As I read other books about ancient Egypt, I realized I had already learned and retained quite a bit about it already just by reading this children's book! I think the author really researched her subject well.

I would highly recommend this book as an educational book, or just for fun. After the first few chapters, the story does become pretty exciting, and at the end I was left wanting more.

This is a pretty good book. The story takes place during the rule Amenhotep III and Queen Tiy. It is about a young Egyptian orphan named Ranofer, the son of Thutra, a very talented goldsmith. When his father dies, Ranofer's cruel brother Gebu takes over and makes him work as a lowly laborer in a goldshop. When Ranofer finds out that Gebu is stealing gold from tombs, he and his friend Hequet set out to find answers. One night, Ranofer finds a goblet made of solid gold which bares the cartouche of pharaoh Thutmose The Conqueror. Ranofer tries to follow and stop Gebu. But little does he know that his mistakes might cost him his life.

The Golden Goblet is very exciting and compelling, but it doesn't really get interesting until you are well into the book. It also has vocabulary that may be beyond the comprehension of some readers, so you may want to keep a dictionary handy. If you don't read this in school, you should definitely read it on your own.

Young Ranofer, an orphan, lives with his half brother, Gebu, who beats and mistreats him. Ranofer discovers that there has been a thief at the goldsmith where he works. He thinks that it is Gebu's friend, Ibini, but later learns that Ibini is actually working for Gebu, who is behind the thefts. Then, one night about six months later, a hungry Ranofer ventures into Gebu's room, which is forbidden to Ranofer, for food; and he discovers a golden goblet with hieroglyphics spelling out, "Thutmose the Conqueror"! The discovery leads him to believe that Gebu is a tomb-raider. On the day of the festival when the Nile rises and makes the soil rich with nourishment, Ranofer secretly follows Gebu and Wenamon, the mason, into a tomb. But they soon discover Ranofer and start chasing him. Ranofer escapes, traps them in the tomb, and runs to tell the queen about the tomb-raiders. At first, no one believes him, but then the queen sends some people to investigate. When they find out what Ranofer has said is true, the queen rewards Ranofer with the donkey he asks for. Because I enjoy reading about Egypt, this book was fun to read. It was a good adventure and mystery. I recommend it to other people who also enjoy mysteries and adventures.

Ancient egypt is portayed in the most exiting of ways in this book, including all the details:
Positive elements:
Ranofer has a good head. he can usually decide what is best and takes advice (though not so readily) from those who are wiser and have more experience than him. though he has a bad attitude at first, by the third to fourth chapter it is made clear as to why this is so. with great ambitions, Ronofer is able to take advice to make himself ready to carry out those ambitions.
Violent content:
Ronofer's half brother is cruel to him, and beats him a few times. Ranofer is short-tempered when he meets another boy at the goldsmiths.
Spiritual content:
Ranofer, being an ancient Egyptian, beleives in and worships many gods. he beleives bone-chilling myths such as ghosts will carry away children who wander outside at night, that his father's spirit visits him, and that the dead king and queen are alive in their tomb. he prays to multiple gods, asking for the things he wishes to accomplish.
Conclusion:
What makes a book worthwhile? it is the ending. this story's ending is very fulfilling, leaving the reader as satisfied as can be, and ends with Ranofer looking forward to his dreams, now that he has removed all his barriers.

The Golden Goblet is a very good book. It takes place in Ancient Egypt and features interesting characters. It also has a Newbery Award. This book is good because it has many factual details. I learned that without the Nile, Ancient Egypt wouldn't have existed. Every year the Nile flooded and brought nutrients from the high hills giving them grand soil to grow barley. They used the barley to make beer and bread.
The reader can't wait to read the next chapter because it was exciting. Things that took place that made it exciting were the spying and chasing Gebu into a tomb.
If you want to read about Ancient Egypt, I suggest The Golden Goblet!
Trevor Smith, 9

"The Golden Goblet", by late childrens book author Eloise Jarvis McGraw, tells the tale of Ranofer, an orphan boy in Ancient Egypt, who lives with his evil half brother Gebu after his father, Thutra the master goldsmith dies. Gebu isn't very fond of Ranofer, so he takes his job at the Goldsmiths, a job Ranofer prides, to make him an apprentice at his stonecutting shop. Gebu also takes the coppers he earns, and only gives him a loaf of bread, and occasionally an onion. Ranofer only has two friends: Heqet, an apprentice whom Ranofer met while he was still at the goldsmiths, and The Ancient, a papyrus cutter who Ranofer meets one night while walking home through the marshes.

This book starts out very, VERY slow. It was hard to pick up on everything, as characters wern't introduced, but act as if we already know them. A common mistake in many books. Then some of the most boring dialogue I've ever read. When Gebu removes Ranofer from the goldsmiths to make him an apprentice at his stonecutting shop is not only the climax, but when things finally start to get interesting, and this is somewhere around 100 pages in! This is when conversations start to have more depth in them, Ranofer starts doing things that are actually interesting, and he starts to get on Gebu's back, which is as action-packed as this gets.

A major crime in this book is tomb-robbing. This was set in a time when tombs were bigger than your house, and had everything the corpse ever had in them, because Egyptians believed the corpses would wake up and resume life by living in the tomb. And if you robbed one, you were stealing from rich people or leaders, and you were put to death. Gebu steals many things. This makes Ranofer uneasy, so he is now out with the Ancient and Heqet to spy on him and prove him guilty of theft. The rest of the book is the process of doing so.

To sum this up, the dialogue and demonstration on Ancient life is very good. Everything else trails by a mile. Only get it if you're not too big a fan on action books, or if you like learning about Ancient history.

Full of excitement and adventure this book beats the rest ! If you love adventure OR egyptians this is YOUR perfect match! a 100% awesome 100% of the time!

The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw is about a boy named Ranofer who is forced by his half-brother, Gebu, to work as a lowly porter in a goldsmith's shopin Ancient Egypt. His life's goal is to be an apprentice to Zao, the best goldsmith in ancient Thebes. Ranofer learns about a crime operation Gebu is involved in, and tries to stop him and his accomplice. Along the way Ranofer makes two friends, Heqet and the "Ancient One." They keep his secrets, encourage him and help him in his crusade to prove Gebu of his heinous crimes.
I liked this book because it was very well written. The author did a very good job in bringing the characters to life. She does this by making their feelings apparent. For example, when the chief goldsmith called Ranofer "shari" meaning "small one," this little bit of kindness "brought sudden tears to Ranofers eyes, so vividly did he recall his father's voice using that very endearment."
There are many times in this book where the author describes Ranofer's inward thoughts and speculations. These often include plans to defy Gebu and escape from his evil clutches. Other times he chastises himself for being rude to his friends. The author also describes the pain and suffering when Ranofers half-brother beats him. When Ranofer is apprenticed to Gebu in a stone cutting shop, he earnestly tries to learn this trade by asking Gebu a simple question. Gebu strikes him for no apparent reason other than asking this simple question. For the most part the plot of the book moves a bit slowly, but towards the end it becomes very exciting. I earnestly recommend this book to children 8 years old and up.

I think this book was a great story line so here is what is happening right when you start reading. This book is about a boy named Ranofer and his evil half-brother, Gebu. Ranofer's father died so he needed to live with Gebu. Gebu hardly gave Ranofer any food and he wouldn't let him keep any of the money he made. Ranofer's dream was to be a goldsmith's apprentice, but Gebu only let him be a worker at the gold shop. Ranofer has a big adventure ahead of him, but he doesn't know it yet. This has a few hard words in it, so it should be for older kids. It was a great story though!

My son and I read The Golden Goblet during our study of Ancient Egypt. I try to find either an engrossing biography or a well written historical fiction novel to enhance our study of a particular period in history. The Golden Goblet was that book. Vivid descriptions, suspenseful, and a good plot.