You Wouldn't Want to Be an Inca Mummy!: A One-Way Journey You'd Rather Not Make

You Wouldn't Want to Be ...

by Colin Hynson, David Antram (Illustrator)

Introduces what life was like for the ruler of the Incas, discussing the control of the empire, the royal household, religious customs, and the mummification and worship of the deceased ruler as a god.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Picture Books, Middle Grade

32 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Colin Hynson worked in museum and heritage education, including the Science Museum in London, before becoming a children’s and educational writer. He has written more than thirty nonfiction books for young people. He has also been a scriptwriter, appeared on radio and television, and written for the Guardian, the Times Educational Supplement, BBC History magazine, and various computing magazines.

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title is misleading, but lots of information about the culture told in a fun way for kids (or as fun as child sacrifice and being killed when the ruler dies so that you can serve him in death can be).

[Ehsan Mohammadzadeh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny storytelling, but I don't like something about the illustrations. Most of the characters are carbon copy of eachother , and some of them have slight changes. Very recommended mostly for children.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Incan civilization practised the art of mummification. If you were a king, when you died, you would be mummified before you were placed in your tomb. You would then face an eternity of being brought out on major holy days and paraded around the city.

This book spends some time on the mummies, but also gives the reader a background on the Incan Civilization as a whole. This helps to set the context for why mummies were important. For the junior reader, there is a lot of information here for research projects and just general knowledge.

Still, there is not a lot here that makes being an Inca mummy that much worse than anything else in the Inca civilization. Maybe if they had focused instead on the child mummies, author Hynson would have been able to live up to the title.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

It focuses more on the Inca culture, more to prove the respect of its leaders and their theological beliefs in the Gods they worshipped than it did on death/afterlife, etc, though if you were not thought of as the son of the Sun God, death was a sacrifice people were willing to make...as honorary....
I might have changed the title on this one, as very little focused on Inca Mummies/mummification, but otherwise another fun one in this series.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colin Hynson describes the funereal rituals bestowed on 15th century Inca emperors. In addition to explaining the process of mummification, Hynson also outlines the life, responsibilities, and religious beliefs of an Inca emperor.

Excellent series – fun and informative. Phenomenal way to teach children about history. Clever, eye catching page layouts and great use of humor.

[Helen Pugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could've been better researched, as I've spotted some errors in it (e.g. the consistent typo of 'chichi' instead of 'chicha') and it's a very male-centric book. But a good introduction to Inca culture for children that's engaging and funny.
- Helen Pugh (author of Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire)

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is misleading as the book is more about being an Incan ruler than about becoming a mummy but it was a very informative book nonetheless. As usual it didn't leave out the gory bits and the kids enjoyed the comic book type format.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This edguicational book teaches you about Incan ways and culture. It tells you things like you have really big earlobes or you need to conquer more land for yourself. You should also read other books like this.

[Laura The Book Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all the "You Wouldn't Want to Be..." books

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explains the life and death of an Incan emperor, using the second person point-of-view, as if the reader is the emperor. Each double-page spread includes the main text, plus several sidebars. The book is illustrated heavily in caricature-style cartoons. The chapters cover how the emperor lives, gains territory, worships, and feasts before detailing that the death of the emperor means that he is mummified and paraded around the streets of Cuzco for a year before joining his mummified ancestor emperors in a temple. The book concludes with a glossary and index. I would have to say that while the text is fairly matter-of-fact and informative, the cartoon illustrations and title detract from the text style, making it seem to be comedic when it isn't.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had lots of information, with good illustrations. It included a Glossary and an Index!

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the humor in history it gives

[Miekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

We learned a lot about the Inca civilization. The book was written well and had some funny parts too. Ages 6 and up.

[Heather Griffitts Clark · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book that should definitely be aimed at older children given the concept of killing slaves. I was disappointed. Not appropriate for my 5 year old that's interested in other cultures.

[Kelly Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was more about serving as the leader of the Incas than about Inca mummies.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little look at the life of the Inca. My boys and I enjoyed it.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a friend that is an anthropologist professor at the community college and as a child she always related to the Mayan, Aztec, Inca, Tanio people because she considered them her people until she decided to further delve into their history and practices by studying to become an anthropologist. She actually confided in me that she had always been resentful towards the Spanish for conquering her people but after studying her people for so many years, she is secretly happy that the Spanish put an end to the culture of death.

It's no wonder that the lamas are not great in number, seeing as how every day one had to be sacrificed, one hundred if it was the beginning of the month and hundreds if it was a ceremonial day. It is obvious when you start studying about the Incas that sacrifice is a big part of their religion and way of life. Children of Inca nobles were selected at age 12 to be sacrificed in the mountains to appease their bloodthirsty gods. Servants of the leader are strangled to death when the leader dies so that they can continue being slaves to the leader after their death. It's so very disturbing how the dried remains of the leader are paraded for an entire year around Cuzco, it's a very long ceremonial death ritual. The reason why the Inca Empire is so great is because the leaders have to conquer land due to the already conquered land not being inherited and still belonging to the previous deceased leader.
The Inca people were brutal, they would sacrifice women and children without mercy. Inca people were killed for various reasons or no reason at all like they thought you were lazy or didn't like you so they saw fit to throw you over a cliff or stone or strangle you with rope. We see a little of their ruling class such as the Leader, the leaders relatives, the Curacas (officials), village headmen (law enforcers), and the ordinary people (the masses). The Inca army would kill by clubbing to death or using slingshots. The would use body parts of their enemies as jewelry, delightful. Speaking of jewelry, the leader would wear earrings that would stretch his ears bigger than anyone else; some priest have them big but not as big as the leader. The leader practiced polygamy and also with his sister to procreate the next leader of the people. One of his women chosen from the age of 10 has to eat any hair that falls from the leader's clothes. Also, the bridge to Henan Pacha is made of human hair, disgusting.