The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving a Mystery of Ancient Egypt
When King Tut's tomb was discovered in Egypt in 1922, the world was  abuzz. What would be the next big, newsworthy archaeological find? Might it be  Giza 7000X, a secret Egyptian tomb buried deep within the earth? Claudia Logan  and Melissa Sweet (with the cooperation of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston)  answer that question and ask a few more inThe 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle,  their truly splendid picture book for older readers. Readers follow a fictional  family to Egypt in 1924 to an actual expedition led by Dr. George Reisner.  Written in diary form from the perspective of young Will Hunt, who  joins the expedition, the book is immediate and engaging, communicating the  mystery and excitement of an archaeological dig like nothing we've seen.Illustrated with wonderful, color-soaked paintings as well as collages of  authentic documents and artifacts from the Giza 7000X site, this richly visual  diary is as entertaining as it is educational. Young readers will revel in the  "you are there" glimpse of an archaeological dig, learning that excavation can  sometimes be as much about fleas and dust as it can be about mummies or, say, a  solid gold lion's leg. Sidebars about pharoah's curses, cartouches, and  heiroglyphs sit alongside enthusiastic postcards from the boy to his friends  back home in Boston: "What are we doing? Picking up things hour after hour with  TWEEZERS. If someone sneezes or trips--there goes 5,000 years of history down  the drain." As Will lives behind the pyramids, he witnesses the discovery of a  secret tomb... but whose is it? Can the team solve the mystery before Will and  his parents return to America? Highly recommended. (Ages 8 and older)--Karin Snelson