The Phantom And the Fisherman

Terry Deary's Egyptian Tales

by Terry Deary

From the bestselling author of Horrible Histories... Menes is training as a scribe in the local temple, and to earn extra money to help his poor family, he agrees to assist rich old Maiarch. Menes must write a prayer to rid Maiarch of an old family ghost. But what if the ghost is actually more human than supernatural? It will take all of Menes's skill and ingenuity to find out the truth... Terry Deary's Egyptian Tales explore the world of Ancient Egypt through the eyes of children who could have lived at the time. These stories feature real people and take place in some of the most recognisable Egyptian settings. This new edition features notes for the reader to help extend learning and exploration of the historical period.

Genres: History, School

64 pages, Library Binding

First published September 7, 2004

About the author

A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.

A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.

The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.

Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sara Kamjou · Rating 1 out of 5]

حتی کودک درونم هم نتونست باهاش ارتباط برقرار کنه :))

[Cham · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was better than the other books in this series.
The story was technical but not interesting. Simple actions and Normal persons.
It's fun for kids who are younger than 12.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a great book to read! The story was well written and it was easy to read and understand and I loved the way that the story was told. I have read a few of the books in the Terrible True Tales series now and they are all really enjoyable (this one has been added to the Egypt set). It is 5 stars from me for this one - very highly recommended!

[Niamh Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the other books in The Egyptian Tales series, this story tells of greed and doing the right thing by weaving these morals into an interesting story containing history facts about Egyptian Gods and death rituals. It subtlety highlights the benefit of a good education, but appears judgemental of certain livings.
It is very descriptive in painting Master Meshwesh as the mean man that he is and Maiarch is quite cruel calling Menes, the young boy, "homeless, useless and worthless". As with other stories, one kids character is portrayed as a fool and the other is clever. The children drink beer, as with all of Terry Dearys children's books! There is good use of humour which is also a recurring theme.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Menes, a poor student in ancient Egypt agrees is training as a scribe in the local temple, and to earn extra money to help his poor family, he agrees to assist rich old Maiarch. Menes must write a prayer to rid Maiarch of an old family ghost, but instead he discovers the true identity of the phantom and receives a rich reward.

[Xanthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably the weakest of the Egyptian tales series. The story serves to illustrate ancient Egyptian life pertaining to education, scribes, thievery and belief in spirits. Sounds like an odd collection of topics? It is, hence the two stars.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun! My class will love this!

[Bahman Bahman]

Menes, a poor student in ancient Egypt agrees is training as a scribe in the local temple, and to earn extra money to help his poor family, he agrees to assist rich old Maiarch. Menes must write a prayer to rid Maiarch of an old family ghost, but instead he discovers the true identity of the phantom and receives a rich reward.