So You Think You’ve Got it Bad? A Kid’s Life in Ancient Egypt
Filled with facts on daily life in Ancient Egypt, Chae Strathie’s book is an entertaining and informative introduction to what life was like in the time of the pharaohs. The objective of the book is to humorously demonstrate to child readers the triviality of their modern-day problems, and this is achieved by explaining the hardships endured by children in Ancient Egypt. The reader will come to see that while owning a pet baboon or a lion does sound appealing, life was certainly not all fun and games and crazy wild pets in Ancient Egypt.
The book is divided into sections on Egyptian food (onions for breakfast), medicine, education, discipline, religion, and the games children played. Marisa Morea’s wonderful illustrations bring the book’s facts to life, and certainly provide extra humour. The presentation of facts differs on almost every page – information is given in speech bubbles, through diagrams, and through Morea’s illustrations – which helps to keep the reader interested and engaged.
While there is certainly more of a focus on jokes than facts, and perhaps too much effort being made to relate the information and facts given about Egypt to the modern child reader’s life, this book is still a good starting point for younger readers interested in learning about the history of Ancient Egypt.
