Meet The… Ancient Romans and Meet The… Ancient Egyptians are two fantastic works of non fiction by James Davies, published by Big Picture Press.
These sturdy and handy sized books offer a wealth of information about two ancient civilasations in clear and concise chunks. Starting with an introduction to how these kingdoms came to be and grow in power through maps, fascinating facts and comic-book-like illustrations.
There’s an impressive amount of information packed into these books with each double page spread covering a different aspect of life from ruthless rulers, family life and entertainment to fashion, religion and strange medical practices.
With a unique illustrative style against bold backgrounds these books really stand out from the crowd and we love the way that Davies has used dry humour to lighten the tone about these periods of history that were, let’s face it, pretty gruesome at times. And speaking of gruesome, there’s a great section on mummification in the Egyptians book which is sure to be a favourite.
The Roman army is one of our favourite pages, we love this detailed inventory of what a Roman soldier would carry with him and spotting all the funny things the mini legion at the bottom of the page are up to.
These topics are covered so often in schools and these books contain all the usual things you’d expect to find out about Romans and Egyptians, but they are also packed full of amazing facts. Did you know that the Egyptians loved beer and drank it every day? Or that the Romans cleaned themselves with oil that they scraped off with sticks and covered their faces with make up made from poisonous lead? Or that the Great Sphinx was once brightly coloured and sported a beard?
Throughout these journeys in history the text constantly links back to modern times; comparing a Roman or Egyptian person’s life with something relevant to us, describing how we have discovered the things we know about ancient times, the impact they had, and still have, on the world we know today.
Instantly engaging with perfectly pitched humour, these books would be a great addition to any key stage two classrooms, school libraries as well as at home.
Buy Meet The… Ancient Romans from Wordery.
Buy Meet The… Ancient Egyptians from Wordery.
Many thanks to Big Picture Press for sending copies of these books for review.
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