Who Built the Pyramid? - Hardcover

Hooper, Meredith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076360786X ISBN 13: 9780763607869

Publisher: Candlewick, 2001

Synopsis

A truly egalitarian look at how a real pyramid was built.

Who DID build the pyramid? In this innovative nonfiction title, everyone
from the mighty king to the lowly water carrier claims to have built this
massive monument. And whether you’re asking the high priest or the stone mason, each person has a good reason to claim credit for a real pyramid that was built more than four thousand years ago. With lively text and bold illustrations, Meredith Hooper and Robin Heighway-Bury create an unusual, carefully researched look at one of the wonders of ancient Egypt. Meredith Hooper has worked with Egyptologists at the British Museum in London and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to create this story—and fact-filled endnotes provide even more fascinating information.

About this title

About the Author

Meredith Hooper uses the storybook form in WHO BUILT THE PYRAMID? to make the latest research accessible for a young audience. Meredith Hooper is an historian by training and the author of many books,
ranging in subject from Antarctica to aviation, from the history of water to the history of inventions.


Robin Heighway-Bury has been illustrating for sixteen years but this is his first book for children. Robin Heighway-Bury lives in London, and found inspiration for his illustrations for WHO BUILT THE PYRAMID? at the Egyptian galleries at the British Museum, which is just a short distance from his studio.

Reviews

Gr 3-8-Through a combination of fiction and nonfiction, Hooper describes the construction of Senwosret's pyramid in Egypt 4000 years ago. On each illustrated spread, a different person claims to have built the pyramid, from Montuhotep, who designed it, to Inyotef, who sculpted the capstone, to Wah, who carried water to workers at the site. Some of the figures are real, others are fictional but together they ask readers to consider how many people it took to accomplish this great feat. The oversized computer drawings in bold, bright colors are striking. Final pages provide additional information on the planning, building, and robbing of the tomb. Color photos of the site and artifacts accompany this section. Although there are a number of titles for this audience on pyramids, this book approaches the topic in a unique way.

Betsy Barnett, Eads School District, CO

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

In Meredith Hooper's Who Built the Pyramid?, illus. by Robin Heighway-Bury, the opening spreads introduce different players in Egyptian history, all claiming responsibility for the construction of King Senwosret's pyramid. Readers finally get the facts in the back pages, packed with reportage about the pyramids' planning and later, its pillaging. At times, the text raises more questions than it answers, but the watercolor and computer-generated illustrations reflect the warm tones of the desert civilization.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 3-5. Ten men answer the title question, "Who Built the Pyramid?" each one claiming, "I did!" In descending order from the King of Egypt (Senwosret) and the high priest to the water carrier and the laborer, each man cites the role he played in the process. The catalog ends with a tomb robber who doesn't care who built the pyramid; he's just happy because "I knew how to get in." In the first part of the book Heighway-Bury uses broadly exaggerated characters, display type, and backgrounds colored with strong terra-cotta and turquoise hues. The design is more traditional for the eight pages of back matter comprising color photos, maps, and text that provide information on the building of Senwosret's tomb, which was constructed some 4,000 years ago. This unusual packaging of information initially appears simplistic, but the sequential story-like text supplemented by historical facts will convey appreciation for the time and place. Adults can set the stage for children who don't know about the pyramids by reading the fictional story and then using the factual follow-up for discussion. Julie Cummins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 076360786X
• ISBN 13: 9780763607869
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Heighway-Bury Robin
• Number of pages: 40