Howard and the Mummy by Tracey Fern - ADVISABLE

Howard and the Mummy: Howard Carter and the Search for KingTut’s Tomb by Tracey Fern, illustrated by Boris Kulikov.  NON-FICTION/PICTURE BOOK  Farrar Straus Giroux, 2018.  $18.  9780374303051  

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) – ADVISABLE  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

Howard Carter had a fascination with Egyptian artifacts since he was a small child.  At the age of seventeen, he took a job in Egypt helping with a dig but always longed to discover his own mummy.  After learning from other archaeologists, he met Lord Porchester or “Porchy” and soon the two worked together to try and find a major treasure.  Over time, Carter never tired, and Porchy would fund Carter’s projects.  Eventually, Carter’s perseverance paid off and he uncovered King Tut’s tomb.  

I loved reading about Carter’s determination and this book gives a glimpse into the patience it takes to be an archaeologist.  The text is long and at times slow, and the illustrations of Carter are unsettling as he always looks surprised, even if he is just writing in his journal.  It’s an interesting story and would work great in a unit on mummies but it’s not necessarily a book kids would pick up on their own.  I put it as advisable because of it's usefulness in a classroom.

C. Peterson