Living in . . . Egypt: Ready-to-Read Level 2

I LOVE this series. They are written from the perspective of a child in that country, with a variety of family types represented. They all include an overview of what their day is like, what school is like, as well as cultural, historic, and geographic info, with some pronunciation help where needed. I like to read the same one every day for a week, and my son notices and latches onto a new detail every time. We often end up Googling some question that the text brings up.

Its a very good book

Bought as a gift and he loved it!

I bought this for kids whom I tutor, as the family will be going to Egypt for several weeks. I appreciated that this includes broader history of Egypt, hitting high points of ancient Egypt but also going over the geography/climate of Egypt, explaining in simple language how it came to be predominantly Muslim and Arabic-speaking, giving a glimpse of life in modern-day Egypt, and all with colorful, engaging illustrations. It includes a couple pages each on subjects such as the 5 pillars of Islam, Ramadan, hijabs and the salat (ritual prayers). I wasn’t expecting that, but it’s informative (“this is what we do”) more than preachy (the family I bought it for is Muslim; but as a Christian myself, I would find it good for conversation if I was reading it to my own kids).

Very good

This is a great read. My child was fascinated by the story and it got her interested in learning about other cultures, since its written from the perspective of a little girl her age. It teaches a little about the basics about Islam, which is great because she got to compare and contrast. It also gives a fun history of Egypt that has lead to her interest in finding more books about the pyramids, hieroglyphics, etc. These are great introductory books with great illustrations.

None of the books focus that much on religion... EXCEPT for the Egypt book. The book explains the 5 Pillars of Islam. Now, I don't mind teaching comparative religion to kids, but you have to compare it to other faiths and treat all those faiths in the same manner. The issue is this author does not do that. The Italy book did not teach the basics of Catholicism. The India book did not teach the basics of Hinduism. Etc. So basically the author decided to treat the Muslim faith differently in her Egypt book while excluding all other faiths. That unequal treatment is unacceptable - either state briefs facts about religion in every country book or don't talk about any religion in detail. Again - this is a matter of consistency throughout a book series that deals with people's cultures, ethnicities, customs, etc. because that is a sensitive topic - you have to display equal treatment.

Not bad. Good illustrations. A lot of focus in religion (Islam) and less on Egypt today.

I purchased the book even though there are negative comments, and I did not find it as negative as the way they describe it. It is better to keep an open mind when reading about Islam, and not all the people are extremists. I wanted to use the book to start an open dialogue with my children about the goods and bads about religion and ability to explain it with parental guidance. We actually enjoyed the book a lot and look forward to more books to come.

We purchased the whole series but we are dissatisfied there is misinformation on some books and one it's completely different from the series "Egypt" be aware, this book is about muslim religion from beginning to end and incites your child to repeat some muslim phrases. What I found totally strange it's the fact that religion is not mention in the Italian nor the Indian book so, why to place religion in the Egypt book and if they are doing so, why not to place the whole picture and accurate history or why not place some religion facts in the Italian or Indian, too weird isn't it? I'm not saying anything against any belief, but deff I don't like brain washing especially at this young age, picture this "the kid has the whole series and only finds out about muslim and a great deal of it (almost the whole book!), conclusion for him if there is not religion at home, Muslim is the religion". The whole series doesn't present religion but one. The Mexican one, well, it's not that big of the deal but quesadillas aren't quite like that, those are the American's version of quesadillas. The Australian one has an ostrich on the cover! The idea is quite lovely and I felt in love as soon as I saw them, however, they are not very accurate.

I agree with the negative reviews. I ordered all the books in this series. This book includes a lot of content about religion (Islam), whereas the other books in the series do not. Also, there is a sharp contrast between how the British rulers are covered in the India book and how the Arab Muslim invaders are covered in the Egypt book... to the point of absurdity. For example, the text reads that many people “chose” to follow Islam after Arab Muslims took over the country.