I’m working on plans for next school year. I’ve decided we’ll probably do Creation – Greeks. We read “Boy of the Pyramid” a couple of years ago and we could read it again, but I’m looking at other possibilities, too. We already own “God King” and I was thinking of reading that one. My kids will be 11, 9, 7 and 5 (though the little one probably won’t be listening.) Would that book work? And how does it portray God vs. the gods of Egypt?
Any must reads for ancient history besides “Boy of the Pyramids”?
Hi, there! I’m doing SCM’s “Genesis-Deuteronomy & Ancient Egypt” this year with my 10 dd and so far I’ve read aloud “Boy of the Pyramids” and “The Golden Goblet” to her. We’re currently reading “The Cat of Bubastes.” I think both “Golden Goblet” and “Cat of Bubastes” would have been very difficult for her to manage on her own, but she’s LOVED listening to me read aloud. I’m surprised because both books move along rather slowly… but they have suspenseful story lines if you hang in there.
“Golden Goblet” goes into a lot of detail about how the Egyptians prepared for their “afterlife.” I wondered while reading it if I should say anything to my daughter about their false beliefs. But I kept holding off trying to adhere to the CM style and let her draw her own conclusions. And sure enough one day after I finished a chapter she said with a roll of her eyes, “What a waste — putting all that food and furniture and gold in a tomb with a dead mummy!”
“Cat of Bubastes” weaves in both the gods of Egypt and the God of Israel. That theme is actually becoming crucial to the plot — as I’m finding out with the latest chapter we read last week. The main characters (a young Egyptian and his slave) were both raised to believe in many gods. Now they’re questioning those beliefs as they learn about the one God of Israel. Just be aware that there is a lot of violence in “Bubastes.” Every now and I then I will omit a word or paragraph that I feel would be too much for my dd. I give both books two thumbs up!
We are currently reading God King and it lined up well with our Bible reading in term 3 of the Greece guide. My kids are 14 and 11 and are really enjoying it. The author writes really well and always portrays God as the only true god. The characters believe in their deities throughout most of the book, but either it’s done in a way that portrays them as inferior or my kids are old enough to discern because they find it kind of silly. Last year we read Hittite Warrior by the same author and enjoyed it as well. Both books do have battle scenes that might upset younger, sensitive kids, but you could easily skip over those descriptions. My kids also enjoyed the books suggested in the Greece guide as well as the Egypt guide last year. Golden Goblet was loved but only focused on Egyptian deities and no mention of God which is understandable given the time period and location it is set in.