So You Think You've Got It Bad?: A Kid’s Life in Ancient Egypt

So You Think You've Got It Bad?

by Chae Strathie, Marisa Morea (Illustrator)

Shortlisted for the Teach Primary Book Awards 2019!
A kid's life in ancient Egypt might sound like fun with all the cool pyramids and glorious sunny weather, but actually it was rather tough! In this hilarious book, written by award-winning author Chae Strathie, children will learn exactly how difficult life really was, from dodging Deathstalker scorpions and cleaning up cow dung, to fetching water from the well, eating roast hedgehog and being slammed in the stocks for being naughty at school! Probably the first book about ancient Egypt that involves bubble wrap and skateboards!

Genres: History, Nonfiction

64 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2018

About the author

Chae Strathie is an award-winning children’s author and journalist who grew up in a tiny village surrounded by a forest in Scotland, which probably explains a lot. His first attempt at professional writing was creating a Star Wars comic at the age of seven. He sold two copies and made a total of four pence. A regular at major book festivals, Chae has toured the length and breadth of the UK and visited schools as far afield as Romania, reading his stories, acting the goat and singing silly songs about worm ice cream and beard-growing. He lives in Dundee with three annoying cats and a very old goldfish called Lazarus.

Reviews

[Kinga (oazaksiazek)]

Niestety odniosłam wrażenie, że twórcy tej książki na siłę chcieli być zabawni. Jak dla mnie nie wyszło im to zbyt dobrze. Humor jest bowiem na dość słabym poziomie. Głównie dlatego momentami źle mi się czytało tę pozycję. Powiedziałabym nawet, że były to miejscami wręcz żenujące żarciki.

Na uwagę zasługują jednak urocze kolorowe ilustracje pojawiające się na każdej stronie. Myślę, że największą radość podczas przeglądania poszczególnych rysunków będą miały dzieci. Zobaczą one różnice pomiędzy nami a Egipcjanami. Myślę, że bez problemu wychwycą inne elementy wyglądu, zwyczajów czy codzienności. Tekst podsunie im także podobieństwa pomiędzy tymi dwoma narodami, więc warto nie tylko książkę oglądać, ale również czytać ;)

"Myślisz, że tak ci źle? Życie dzieci w starożytnym Egipcie" to na tyle krótka książka pozbawiona dużej ilości tekstu, że najmłodsi mogą po nią sięgnąć samodzielnie. Warto jednak pamiętać, że podczas lektury mogą mieć oni mnóstwo pytań, więc warto być gdzieś w pobliżu ;)

Książkę przeczytałam w ramach akcji #bookiswiata organizowanej przez Olę z Book z Tobą :)

[Tiffany Keith]

Laugh out loud hilarious! My 7 year old loved it, and probably took away more from it than the weeks we’ve spent on ancient Egypt in school. It’s British, so there’s some lingo to explain if you’re reading it to your American kids. It did a great job presenting history in a relatable way for kids. Immediately ordered the rest of the series!

[Christina Reid]

Picked this up in my local library as we are learning about Ancient Egypt in school at the moment (I teach Year 3) and I was wondering if this might be a good book to add to our colection of texts or to share with my class.
The presentation and illustrations are both colourful and appealing, with lots of fun facts scattered throughout the pages. I particularly enjoyed the pages looking at the various pets an Egyptian family might have had and the differences between the poor and rich houses (something which tends to be skimmed over in many non-fiction books about Ancient Egypt which tend to focus on the pyramids and the mummies).
I wasn't a massive fan of the slightly judgemental tone of the writing, where many facts are presented and then followed up with 'Ew!' 'Isn't that disgusting?' and 'Awkward!'
At the end of the book the author reiterates how she thinks that children should be grateful for living in their own time, rather than in Ancient Egyptian times...and she has a point. However, I wish that this opinion could have been presented in such a way that it didn't seem like the Ancient Egyptian lifestyle was just there to have fun poked at it.
There are a few tongue-in-cheek references made to the differences between modern life and that in Ancient Egyptian times, which mention anachronistic things such as skateboarding and TV. While these add to the humour, as a teacher I would worry that children would read this book and 'learn' that the Ancient Egyptians had skateboarding lessons because it's tricky to skateboard on sand. (At the end of the book, it is mentioned that these 'facts' are not true).
Overall, a fun book with humour that would appeal to a Year 3 class, including some interesting facts and comparisons.

[Paul Browne]

An interesting read for everyone interested in all things Ancient Egypt, and a perfect present for any child who’s ever complained about his life being unfair. In this book, you can find out how difficult a kid’s life was in ancient times – from being bopped on the head with a stick, cleaning dung, to the possibility of being eaten by a crocodile. It’s not just horrible things you can learn from it, though – the book is filled with all kinds of fascinating and funny facts! 6+