Pharaoh (David Kennett, Omnibus Books, $29.99 hb, ISBN 9781862915930, February 2008) ****

Pharaoh is a striking, innovatively composed, large nonfiction book for mid-primary to junior secondary. Its February publication makes it an excellent choice to promote to school libraries and classrooms, in particular. ‘Egyptophiles’ and other readers will be impressed by the author/illustrator’s representation of both the grandeur and intricacy of New Kingdom Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs Seti I and Ramesses II—Ramesses the Great. The design and artwork is the highlight of this book; beginning with the arrestingly posed pharaoh on his throne and the endpapers that resemble a re-interpretation of an Egyptian frieze, using icon-like images. The illustrations in acrylics have been inspired by photographs, documentaries, magazines and other art works, and these sources may have also contributed to the edgy style and design, parts of which could be described as a graphic novel if this were a work of fiction. Students and aficionados of graphic novels and visual literacy will also notice the colour choices, borders, framing and points of view. The written text includes a glossary and index. David Kennett continues his successful series of the ancient world here, after earlier success with writer Dyan Blacklock in Olympia: Warrior Athletes of Ancient Greece and The Roman Army.

Joy Lawn is the Children’s Literature Consultant at Coaldrake’s Bookshop, Brisbane, an active member of CBCA and a national speaker and writer on CYA

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker