I have said countless times that I am a fan of historical fiction so when I heard there were two new books out – Terrible True Tales Egyptians and Terrible True Tales Romans I was immediately interested to see what they were like. And yes these are for the younger kids (they recommend ages 7+) but I believe that entertaining historical fiction can get kids interested in history regardless of their age, so I asked for some review copies to have a read myself.
The author has taken true events like Caratacus persuading the Roman senate to spare him and then weaves a story around the true events. At the end of each story he always explains which part is fact and which is fiction and he then he also gives two ideas on activities which the kids could do based on something from the story (really perfect for use in home education).
The stories are light and entertaining (perfect for younger kids) and they are written in an easy style so these could serve as early chapter reading books. Personally I think they would be great to read together with the kids so you could discuss interesting bits.
Each book contains 4 short stories. In The Eqyptian book the stories are – 1. The Gold in the Grave. This is fun story about grave robbers, as I was reading it I did wonder how many schemes the people tried to rob the graves and if any of them ended up dying in the graves. 2. The Plot at the Pyramid. An interesting story about the people who have to help build the pyramids and what could have gone wrong. 3. The Magic of the Mummy. This story is about how a young girl has to mummify the pharaoh’s cat but instead she creates a wooden mummy and takes his cat home as a pet. Again you discover lots of interesting facts about their whole process of mummification and the death rituals. 4. The Phantom of the Nile Menes. A story about a trainee scribe and a possible ghost.
The Roman stories are – 1. The Captive Celt. A young British boy is taken back to Rome as a slave after his tribe is killed and he now has to adjust to life. He happens to meet a British Chief who is also captured and who manages to convince the Roman senate to spare his life. I found this very interesting as I was fascinated by the fact that it was based on an actual British chief Caratacus who really did persuade the Romans to spare his life. 2. The fatal Fire. A young servant girl witnesses how a fatal fire in Rome starts and who actually started it. This was a fascinating read and did get me thinking about what people in power could/would do and what it would have been like being that servant with no power. 3. The Grim Ghost. A young boy is helping prepare the food for a feast when the master of the house (Pliny) ends up telling him a ghost story. I enjoyed this one because Pliny was a famous for the letters that he wrote including one about the the day that Mount Vesuvius exploded. And apparently Pliny was also famous for the feasts that he held and the ghost stories that he told. 4. The Goose Guards a story about the Gauls attacking, Romans trying to survive and some geese. It might sound strange but apparently the geese guards were a well known Roman legend.
All of the stories are fun and entertaining (I possibly enjoyed the Roman tales more) and all of them include lots of interesting facts about the life of that time. Your kids will learn a lot about life in Roman and Egyptian times just be reading these short stories, I personally think they would be perfect for home edders.
For those interested I am including Amazon links (affiliate).
Admin – I did request review copies of these books. I was not paid for the post.
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