Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Scrapbook-books


Been interested in one of these -Ology books since they came out with the Wizardology, Dragonology and Piratology ones (and right on time too--they appeared just when the Potter craze and Pirates of the Caribbean craze hit the theaters), but I never really got my hands on one until my uncle offered to buy it for me. We chose Egyptology because my sister's name is Isis, so obviously, Egypt it is.

This is probably the truest "science" among the lot, considering it's about actual history and archeological findings. What I liked about it is it's scrapbook-style layout. It reminded me of one of those activities I would do in high school; ones requiring us to make a full-blown fashion magazine using science concepts as articles, or those Balagtas-related literary terms presented in a medical pamphlet format.

This book is actually a fact book meticulously rearranged to follow a narrative about a woman amateur explorer on the lookout for Osiris' lost tomb. Emily Sands, the "author" of the scrapbook, travels with her co-explorers around Egypt. She compiles bits and pieces of their trip, from "actual" drawings of the marketplaces, modes of travel and small problems that arose during their journey, to "actual" letters she sent and received, tokens and boardgame instructions. She also writes down everything she learned from scholars and experts she met along the way.

No ending spoilers here, though. The book is a fun, relaxing read. It's really good to give to kids who have short attention spans, enjoy art and history. Though the last is probably not too important; the book might just be the missing piece to spark an interest in history, for all we know. I used to fail all my history classes, but, for someone who hated dates and funny names, I had quite a number of Egypt-related books listed in my grade school library card.

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