Tutankhamen's Gift

From Publishers Weekly As in Sabuda's Saint Valentine , this equally arresting five-color picture book appropriates the art of another culture to evoke a specific historical setting. Here, telling the story of the 14th-century, B.C., pharaoh, Sabuda uses painted, handmade Egyptian papyrus as the background for his art; a single cut, painted piece of black paper adhered to the papyrus forms each picture. Contrasting effectively with the rich black lines are luminescent orange, purple, blue, green and gold hues. The text, well suited to the target audience, explains how the quiet, diminutive youngest son of the pharaoh Amenhotep III often stopped to watch workers erecting the elaborate sandstone temples that his father had ordered built ("All this to please the gods and keep them happy!"). "Someday," Tutankhamen vows, "I too shall do something great to honor the gods"--and that day comes sooner than anyone expects. His brother (who had succeeded his father as pharaoh) dies suddenly when Tutankhamen is 10. Ascending the Egyptian throne, the boy rebuilds all the temples that his unpopular brother had destroyed, and he rules benevolently until his death nine years later. Sabuda neatly distills the history of a celebrated young ruler while offering a visual treat on each page. Ages 6-9. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 3-5-While not much is really known about Tutankhamen, his persona continues to intrigue young and old alike. Here is a book geared toward younger children about this fascinating figure. Imparting facts about Egyptian history, Sabuda creates a background world and then places the boy who would be king in it. Readers learn of customs such as the fact that only female members were included in ancient family portraits and that women in mourning threw dust in their hair when they wept. They read of temples built and then destroyed and of gods who became angry, abandoning their people. The uniqueness of this book, however, is in its extraordinary illustrations. Bold black framework cut from a single sheet of paper adheres to handmade Egyptian papyrus that has been brightly painted in dazzling early Egyptian designs. Cats, long worshiped by the Egyptians, are found on almost every page. Notes at the end of the book give additional facts about this ancient civilization and the discovery of Tut's tombs. For more information, try Piero Ventura and Gian P. Ceserani's In Search of Tutankhamen (Silver Burdett, 1985). But, for sheer beauty, Sabuda's book is a winner.