In this picture book set in ancient Egypt, Nekatu and her brother, Hamut, stow away on a boat down the Nile, find their artistic talents honored by the King and Queen, and, with the help of an old crocodile pal, narrowly escape capture by kidnappers

Hamut and Nekatu are brother and sister who live in Egypt. They came across a baby crocodile near the Nile River. Everyday they fed him bread and dates. One day when the Nile River flooded the area, Hamut and Nekatu almost drowned, but the baby crocodile saved their lives. The educational value of this book is teaching children about the Nile River. I thought that this book was boring, it didn't keep my interest at all. ( )

This was a fun book to read to the kids and gave an interesting look at a couple of cultural things that aren't necessarily brought up in a lot of children's books about ancient Egypt (slavery, etc). My only complaint was the rhythm of the story itself; I don't like reading aloud in verse like that. ( )

This story takes place in Ancient Egypt, in the times of the pharaohs. Hamut and his sister Nekatu find a baby crocodile that they feed, and he remains their friend thereafter. One day, they sneak onto a sailboat that takes them far away from their village. They are put in the care of a couple. The man is a sculptor who teaches Hamut how to sculpt, and soon, he becomes an astounding sculptor. Nekatu herself becomes an accomplished painter, and they are both commissioned to work on the decoration of a pyramid. They soon win the favor of the pharaoh and his wife, but this leads to them being captured by criminals to be sold as slaves in a foreign country. However, the boat they are transported on sinks due to the floods of the Nile, and they are saved and brought home by their friend, the crocodile.

This is a really nice book for older children, especially if they are interested in the Ancient civilization from Egypt. The illustrations have soft colors, and depict many Ancient Egyptian art and hieroglyphs along with monuments like the Sphinx. The text is written in rhymes, which makes it ideal for a read-aloud. There are a few words that would be difficult for children to understand like “stowaways”, “ruffians” and “scoundrels”, so they would have to be explained either before or after the reading. At the end, children can amuse themselves by finding ten hieroglyphic messages hidden in the book (the key to the meaning of a few individual hieroglyphs is given in the back of the book). Ages 7-11. ( )

#103, 2006

A cute book with pretty illustrations in which a brother and sister end up becoming artists for one of the pharoahs in ancient Egypt. Cute, but rather baby-ish for my 8-year-old. ( )