Egypt

Children's Literature - Elisabeth Greenberg

This volume in a teaching series for grades three to six introduces the country of Egypt through basic social studies topics of history, regions and resources, wildlife, government (here called infrastructure), and culture. Backmatter includes a fact file, a timeline, a glossary, a list of books and websites for additional research, a traceable map (the kind which used to be distributed as a worksheet), and an index. The words that can be found in the glossary are bolded in the text to alert the reader to check for the meaning. The most interesting section of this rather plebeian treatment of a fascinating country is a "pros and cons" chart about the Aswan Dam. This reviewer is confused by the specification of Egyptian Arabic as a language rather than a dialect. Also confusing is a map legend reference to marine salt as an industry product with no correspondent graphic on the map to show the location of that industry. Part of the "Countries around the World" series. Reviewer: Elisabeth Greenberg