You Wouldn't Want to be an Egyptian Mummy

An ancient Egyptian mummy known as the “screaming mummy” was buried alive and wrapped in sheepskin, probably as a punishment. This and other interesting, and yes, disgusting things can be discovered by reading David Stewart’s You Wouldn’t Want to be an Egyptian Mummy!: Disgusting Things You’d Rather Not Know. This fascinating installment in the You Wouldn’t Want to Be…series provides readers a step-by-step process for becoming an Egyptian mummy. In addition to becoming a mummy, Stewart also discusses the mourning process, the afterlife the mummy can expect and even famous mummy’s and the “Pharaoh’s curse”. Readers will be disgusted, intrigued and amused by the droll language used and will enjoy a little blood and guts to go along with their history.

Although you may have been told not to judge a book by its cover, this book is the exception. The bright attention-grabbing cover is just a prelude to the colorful illustrations by David Antram that you’ll find inside. Antram provides large, comic-type pictures to illustrate such gory facts as putting the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines in separate jars. The sidebars are filled with items that will be needed for the mummification process and the afterlife. The illustrations are filled with humor and expression and will encourage readers to find something new each time the book is opened.

I would recommend this book for students in grades 3-6.

Keywords associated with this book: Egypt, mummy, embalm, afterlife, nonfiction, picture book