Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6

Inside a bright and attractive cover is a short introduction and a "Choose your tools" chart of drawing instruments. Then there are more than a dozen different Egyptian symbols and pictures for budding artists to replicate. Masiello uses the method made popular by Lee J. Ames's "Draw 50..." series (Doubleday), starting with a basic shape and showing how details can be added one step at a time. He also includes extra suggestions for ambitious artists. Each finished picture is printed in full color and accompanied by a short paragraph that tells an interesting fact about the subject matter. Some of the drawings are quite complicated but they are broken down into manageable sections. For example, one spread shows how to draw the body of Isis, while the next shows how to draw the head. The complexity of some of the drawings may be intimidating to less-confident students, but most are doable for the target audience. Ting Morris's Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt (Smart Apple Media, 2006) has a variety of craft ideas and more background information than this offering, but it does not focus on drawing. Masiello's book is a great resource for ancient-civilizations units.-Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT