Mouldy Mummies

Children's Literature - Uma Krishnaswami

Believe it or not, this is part of the "Smelly Old History" series from Oxford University, no less (other titles being Greek Grime, Tudor Odours, and so on). Well, you can exercise the olfactories in style here, because there are scratch and sniff panels sprinkled through the cartoon illustrations. Of course there's lots in Egyptian history to excite a curious pair of nostrils, from frankincense to the Pharaoh's toenails-I kid you not! There's some information in the mix as well, especially on the more grisly aspects of the life of the period. For the purist, I should mention that the cat's grease/gazelle dung rat repellant and the mouldy crocodile mummy smell nastily alike. An irreverent, zany, punny mix of fact and fiction.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-Using scratch-and-sniff patches to supplement cartoon illustrations, Dobson bravely uncovers some of the more horrific stenches of Egypt's past. Intrepid readers get whiffs of a mouldy mummy, a pharaoh's stinky feet, and a dung pile, along with some supposed relief provided by frankincense and rose petals (though all the smells kind of blend into one big stink). There are also tidbits of information about Egyptian cosmetics (their kohl-painted eyes helped dull the bright sun in much the same way as the dark smudges under football players' eyes), Egyptian waste disposal systems, and mummy lore (in the Middle Ages, ground up mummy was a medicine). This title doesn't provide factual material for research papers, but the special effects are a great draw for reluctant readers, and serve as an olfactory enhancement of a study unit on ancient Egypt.-Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library