Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book (Ralph Masiello's Drawing Books) [Hardcover]

Ralph Masiello (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2008 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Ralph Masiello's Drawing Books

Ralph Masiello explores the mysteries of Ancient Egypt, from the great pyramid of Khafra to Queen Nefertiti. Step-by-step diagrams show kids how to draw pyramids, sphinxes, pharaohs, and more. Bonus steps encourage young artists to customize their drawings with historically accurate symbols and other details. An introduction and annotations throughout the book provide a glimpse into the fascinating world of this ancient civilization.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–6—Inside a bright and attractive cover is a short introduction and a "Choose your tools" chart of drawing instruments. Then there are more than a dozen different Egyptian symbols and pictures for budding artists to replicate. Masiello uses the method made popular by Lee J. Ames's "Draw 50…" series (Doubleday), starting with a basic shape and showing how details can be added one step at a time. He also includes extra suggestions for ambitious artists. Each finished picture is printed in full color and accompanied by a short paragraph that tells an interesting fact about the subject matter. Some of the drawings are quite complicated but they are broken down into manageable sections. For example, one spread shows how to draw the body of Isis, while the next shows how to draw the head. The complexity of some of the drawings may be intimidating to less-confident students, but most are doable for the target audience. Ting Morris's Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt (Smart Apple Media, 2006) has a variety of craft ideas and more background information than this offering, but it does not focus on drawing. Masiello's book is a great resource for ancient-civilizations units.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT
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About the Author

Ralph Masiello has illustrated several books, including The Icky Bug Counting Book, The Flag We Love, and his popular drawing series. He lives in Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing; 1 edition (June 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570915334
• ISBN-13: 978-1570915338
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Children's Books > History > Africa
  • #47 in Books > Children's Books > History > Ancient

More About the Author

My Official Bio
Ralph was born, raised, and still resides in the state of Massachusetts where he lives with his daughters Alexa and Talia. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA, Illustration, 1985), Ralph has illustrated for magazines, newspapers and books, created posters and prints, and shown his fine art paintings in galleries throughout the world. Beginning with The Icky Bug Alphabet Book in 1986, Ralph has has become internationally known for the children's books he's written and illustrated. Since 1987, he has visited over 2,300 schools all over the world, inspiring children with his life story, humor, and art. While visiting schools, he is often inspired himself by the enthusiasm, creativity, and hard work of the students and teachers. This led him to create his unique "How to Draw" book series. The most recent, Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book was released in July 2008 to rave reviews. In 2011, his work appears in a strange and mysterious book called The Mystic Phyles: Beasts, which is the first in a series of books sure to become instant classics.

My Unofficial Bio
In 1961, the year of the Ox, I was hatched from an opal colored dragon egg that lay in a dung heap on a skunk cabbage farm near my parent's house. Taking pity on me, they raised me as one of their own, but always wondered about me. They knew I was "different" from my brothers somehow.

* I ate Brussel sprouts.
* I liked the color purple.
* I liked to watch television standing on my head.
* I played with toy knights, not those green plastic toy soldiers that my brothers enjoyed.
* I drew pictures while hiding under my bed, where I talked with my friend, Charlie Pistachio, the little nut man who lived under my radiator (heater).
* I stared at the clouds for hours on end.
* I went to the College for Children Born from Dragons where I studied Artistic Alchemy. I graduated and became the Grand Poobah of the Artistic Wizards Guild.
* Through a mixture of mythology and alchemy, my two daughters were born after hatching from a similar egg lying in a dung heap.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Young Kids Studying Egypt, June 12, 2008

By 

J. Buschart "Art Teacher" (St. Louis, Mo) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book (Ralph Masiello's Drawing Books) (Paperback)

This little book is great for young children to learn about Egypt. I teach art and intend to use it with 2nd graders. My state requires that this grade level learn about Ancient Egypt and I believe that this will be a great addition to other materials that I have. I have used his other drawing books with kids for years and they love them!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun book for artists of all ages, February 2, 2010

By 

Lisa D. Olivetti (West Lafayette, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book (Ralph Masiello's Drawing Books) (Paperback)

I bought this book for my six-year-old son to use in conjunction with studying ancient Egyptian history. It's exactly what I was hoping for. The finished drawings are beautifully detailed and realistic, but the instruction is simple and gradual. He could use this book to refine his drawing skills for years to come.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These instructions WORK, June 24, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book (Ralph Masiello's Drawing Books) (Paperback)

Like Ed Emberley, these drawings take you step by step, with fairly easy lines, into making a very good drawing. We used this for our Ancient Egypt homeschool unit -- specifically, we drew pyramids, scarabs, lotus, and papyrus. There are instructions to do many more drawings, some very complex, but these are the ones we chose to try.
Many pages help you draw sphinxes or the gods. The winged disks are really nice, but we didn't try them.

Great results.