Traveling to Egypt With, Of Course, Carole P. Roman as Tour Guide...Calling all Children!

Egypt is one of the oldest nations on

 earth with a history that stretches

 back ten thousand years. It is often

 called the cradle of civilization 

because of the development of cities,

 writing, farming, and a vast 

government that ruled the area.

~~~

 If you were me and lived in Egypt, your home would officially be called the Republic of Egypt. You would refer to your homeland as Masr. It is a transcontinental country, which means it is located in both Africa and Asia.

If You Were Me and Lived in...
                                                                  Egypt
A Child's Introduction to Culture Around the World

By Carole P. Roman

Illustrated by Kelsea Wierenga

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if, as children, we could meet and become friends with all the children living in different worlds...Perhaps, then, we would never have wars since we all knew and loved each other. No, it is not possible, but Carole Roman has surely presented an excellent way for us to share and teach children about those who live in other countries... She wants us to be prepared, so that if we were to meet somebody from, say, Egypt, we would know something about their country and make a connection with them. I really enjoy each brief introduction to new countries, don't you?! 

First, we learn that children of Egypt might live in the capital, which was built on the Nile River.

It is the largest city in the Middle-East and the second largest in Africa. It is also known as Umm-al-Dunya, which means the motheroftheworld. Cairo is famous for having the second-oldest university in the world.

And so it is the children we hope to meet from Egypt... Boys may be called Mostafa, Youseff, or Aly...  While little girls might be called Deena, Salma or Fatma...

I was especially interested in the fact that they use images of their ancient places for their Egyptian money...  And I learned about money because our new friends stopped to buy halawa, a dessert!

One of my favorite parts of this series is learning about what we should visit when traveling to Egypt, in this case. I must admit that I had to use this picture...

Can you image living in Cairo, Giza or other cities in Egypt and looking out to see the Pyramids!?! Somehow I had always imagined they were built far away in the desert...it is wonderful to think about walking somewhere in a city and gazing across the sky to see the magnificent image of the Pyramids... and I even learned something new--that the pyramids are aligned with the stars! Cool! Then there is the Great Sphinx, which I would most like to see, given that it has the head of a pharoah and the body of a lion... There's even a mystery about the pharoah's head not ever solved!

They are large triangular-shaped buildings built thousands of years ago. They are constructed with clay bricks and are enormous. They are one of the great wonders of the world because of their precise measurements and placements in regard to the stars...

While...the Great Sphinx of Giza, which is a giant statue of the pharaoh's head on a lion's body. It is the most famous sphinx in the world...

The book also mentions riding down the Nile and learning about the history from Baba...I do want to take this time to mention the extremely beautiful artwork done for this book. The picture, which I believe includes Cleopatra and other royalty is magnificent in details and worthy of a permanent place in your child's library! Of course, all of the illustrations in this series have been fantastic, but I think this one picture is the best I've seen... By the way, while you're riding on the felucca, sailboat, you might have a chance for a meal. Everything sounded great. And I'd love to taste either the Kushari or Kofta...

Then comes the fun as you find out what the children get involved with in sports and other events! Including the celebration of the beginning of spring which includes a large outdoor celebration with egg coloring as a primary activity...it sounded much like our country fairs where food, fun and friends join together...

Egypt is a country I would love to have the opportunity to explore, so this was one of my favorite of Roman's books. And I've learned that she's expanding in a different type of historical book for us to enjoy...They should be on their way to me soon. 

Do make a special effort to check this book out. In fact, if you haven't already been enjoying this series, this is a perfect one to read as your first one. I can almost guarantee that you'll want to continue reading them...even if you don't have children, because there is always some child you can give it too... Seriously, all the books are age-appropriate and include everything that a child would want to know about a country that they were going to visit. Somehow emphasizing the child's point of view makes the stories more intriguing and unique. Children are bound to both enjoy and learn from this latest addition...Loved it!

GABixlerReviews

Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012 for her first book, award winning author Carole P. Roman started writing as a dare from one of her sons. Using an imaginary game she played with her grandson as a base, Captain No Beard was born."Captain No Beard- An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life" has not only been named to Kirkus Best of 2012, it received the Star of Exceptional Merit, and won the Pinnacle Award for 2012. "Pepper Parrot's Problem with Patience" Book 2 in the series, received 5 Stars from The ForeWord Review The Clarion Review. Strangers on the High Seas has won second place in the Rebecca's Reads Choice Awards 2013. It has followed with six more books to the series. This year, Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis was named to Kirkus Best 2015. The entire cultural non-fiction series If You Were Me and Lived in... was named Best Series by Shelf Unbound. She has begun work on two new series that will be released in early 2016.
Motivated by her love of yoga, Roman has written a book that not only teaches four poses, but shows how easy and accessible yoga can be. 
Her new non fiction series, "If You Were Me and Lived in..." combines her teaching past with her love of exploration and interest in the world around us. The debut book in the series, "If You Were Me and Lived in...Mexico" has won the Pinnacle Award for Best in Children's Non Fiction 2012. France, South Korea, and Norway. Rebecca's Reads has given If You Were Me and Lived in...Norway an honorable mention in the 2013 Choice Awards. If You Were Me and lived in ...France won second place. ForeWord Review has nominated If You Were Me and Lived in...France for best in children's non fiction literature 2013. They will be followed with Kenya, Turkey, India, and Australia. She plans to do Portugal, Greece, and Argentina next year.
Writing for children has opened up a whole second act for her. While she is still working in her family business, this has enabled her to share her sense of humor as well as love for history and culture with the audience she adores. Roman lives on Long Island with her husband and near her children.