Customer Reviews

Secrets in Stone : All About Maya Hieroglyphics

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My 5 yo daughter pulled this off the shelf of our local library and said, "I want to read about Egypt." I glanced at the book and almost put it back when I saw what the topic really was. But, then I decided, "Hey, if she thinks it looks interesting, let's read it." Surprise! My 8 yo, she, and I all loved the book! We checked it out again recently, and my older child (who is now 9) devoured it in one sitting.

Learning how to read the hieroglyphs is a blast, and I loved the puzzles that the author sets for the reader. He has you find particular hieroglyphs in actual Maya inscriptions. I have seen some of the Maya ruins and loved them long before this book was published, but this book adds so much depth to the study of Maya history.

Plus, the book has raised hieroglyphs on the inside covers. You can then make rubbings of the hieroglyphs to form different words. A great purchase!

This is a great book for introducing children and others about hieroglyphics. I thought it was great for myself even. The book tells the history of diciphering the Mayan hieroglyphs. While the Egyptian hieroglyphs had the Rosetta Stone, there was no Rosetta stone for the Mayan. Archeologists needed to learn how to count and tell time, then went from there. Very interesting.

You won't actually be conversant in the Mayan language after you finish this book, but you will have a basic understanding of the language, the mathematics, and their calendar (which has generated so much "doomsday" attention). The Mayas had the concept of "zero" centuries before Europeans, contemporary with the Hindus who usually get all the credit. The author teaches you how to do addition in Maya mathematics -- a system that uses only 3 characters (our Arabic derived system uses 10, counting the zero; and the Roman uses 7). If you want to write using Maya hieroglyphics, there is a special section in the back of the book that gives extra help.

well done, but I could have done without the part about burning blood as a sacrafice. Also the story about the vampire bat.My daughter is in third grade,I am not sure if that story would scare her, but it certainly is not necessary. Seems to me like the author added some gore just to keep older kids reading. The book is well done, I would have liked to have given it 5 stars.