The Curse of the Tomb Robbers

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Andy Seed, illustrated by James Weston Lewis

Interest age: 9 to 11
Reading age: 9 to 11

Published by Nosy Crow, 2022

Adventure
Historical
Interactive
Myths and legends
Non-fiction
Picture books

About this book

It’s 1422 BC, and a terrible crime is about to unfold in ancient Egypt. Apprentice scribe Nub and his friend Iteti, the daughter of a Vizier (an adviser of the pharoah) are on the case to stop a gang of robbers raiding Queen Neith’s tomb before a deadly curse is unleashed. However, they need the reader’s help to solve 11 puzzles to do so!

This clever picture book aimed at older primary readers combines an adventure story with a series of hieroglyph codes to crack, with a comprehensive fold-out guide to hieroglyph meanings and letters at the back of the book. The book also includes “Did you know?” fact bubbles throughout, detailing the pyramids, embalming, grave robbing and many more elements of the ancient Egyptian world.

Published in collaboration with The British Museum, The Curse of the Tomb Robbers is an excellent fiction/non-fiction hybrid read with plenty of challenge for older primary readers: there’s quite a lot of text, and the puzzles aren’t that easy either! It will certainly keep 8-9 year olds occupied for a good amount of time, and satisfy young Egyptologists as well as any children that enjoy puzzles and adventure.

About the author

Andy Seed is a writer and humourist based in Gloucestershire. He is the author of over 30 children’s books including The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff (Bloomsbury) – winner of The Blue Peter Book Award – and the acclaimed Interview with a Tiger animal Q&A series (Welbeck). He also has a series of historical puzzle adventure books for the British Museum, beginning with The Curse of the Tomb Robbers (Nosy Crow).

Andy is a regular visitor to schools and cares fervently about enthusing children to read for pleasure. He is also a popular speaker at festivals, a cheese devotee and an overambitious table tennis player. Plus he has been known to make giant creations out of cardboard from time to time!