Awesome Fiction Books about Egypt to Inspire Kids
A huge part of making a field trip into an effective educational experience is something called pre-learning. At its most basic, pre-learning is just making sure that there is a base level of knowledge about whatever subject you want your kids to learn about so that they have a framework on which to place their new found knowledge. That framework can be created any number of ways, but I’ve often found that one of the easiest ways is books!
Fiction books deal with stories that are not real, though the characters and places that appear in those stories may actually exist. I’ve found that while I personally may find reading true history to be fascinating, our kids will often engage with fictional stories more readily. And if I’m being honest, I usually end up preferring them, too. (I’m a sucker for adventure.) This is great!
Fiction books set in real places, such as Egypt, do an amazing job of teaching kids about the culture, myths, and geography and helps to create the framework needed to help kids to successfully grow their knowledge through their experiences!
Here are some of my family’s favorite fictional books about Egypt for kids!
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
Young Adult Fantasy Adventure – 3 books, Book 1 has 544 pages
Rick Riordan gained international fame through his Percy Jackson book series, but my family’s first introduction to his writing was The Kane Chronicles. This book series takes Riordan’s natural storytelling abilities and applies them to Egypt’s rich tapestry of mythologies and legends.
It is an incredible combination that results in an adventure-driven story filled with magic, danger, and a surprisingly large amount of information on real-life Egyptian mythology!
I would absolutely recommend this series as a way of helping your kids get excited for an upcoming Egyptian adventure of their own!
Note: The first book in this series, The Red Pyramid is available for free to Amazon Prime members! Though, it will hook you, so you’ll have to buy the others. I’ve found a lot of value in being a Prime member, even while traveling abroad, and this is just one of those ways. If you’re interested in checking it out, you can sign up for a free trial, below.
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos (Theodosia Series) by R.L. LaFevers
Young Adult Fantasy Adventure – 352 pages (Book1)
The Theodosia books follow a young British girl who lives in a museum of antiquities. Surrounded by artifacts of ancient Egypt, Theodosia has learned to see the curses and dark magic that still hold to these ancient pieces.
However, when a new (old) piece arrives at the museum, she realizes that the curse that comes with it could spell disaster, not just for the museum, but for the whole of her country!
While the larger part of the book is not set in Egypt, she does eventually manage to make her way there in the course of trying to break the amulet’s curse.
Note: While my entire family enjoyed this book as a whole, there are some scenes in the book that can be a bit graphic and downright scary for younger kids. My kids were 6 and 7 when we read through this one, and my 7 year old was mostly ok with it while my 6 year old was not ok with it. That said, if you have kids in the 9+ age range, this is a great book!
The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Historical Fiction – 248 pages
This one is a bit older than some of the other books on this list (1961), but don’t let that keep you from picking it up. It is a historical fiction set in the city of Thebes during Egypt’s New Kingdom Era, and it does an incredible job of bringing that time and place to life!
The main character is a young boy, Ranofer, who wants nothing more than to learn to become a goldsmith under the teachings of one of the local masters. However, his evil half-brother has other plans in mind for him.
Ranofer knows that the life he wants is out of reach. At least until he discovers a priceless golden goblet in his half-brother’s room, revealing a way for him to change his destiny!
The pacing of this book can be a bit slow at times, meaning that younger readers may find it a bit boring, but the story is good, and it does an amazing job of painting a portrait of life in ancient Thebes.
It’s definitely worth a look!
Ra the Mighty – Cat Detective by A.B. Greenfield
Light-hearted Mystery – 224 pages
A prized amulet has gone missing in the house of Pharoah, and it’s up to Ra the Mighty to crack the case. Perhaps after a quick nap.
Ra is a well-loved and pampered cat residing in Pharaoh’s house, and he really isn’t too interested in solving a mystery. However, a young servant girl has been framed for the crime and Ra’s friend Khepri, a dung beetle, insists on helping out. The ensuing search for truth leads them all over the pharaoh’s house on a case that is complex, dangerous, and more than a little comical.
It’s a lot of fun and younger kids will absolutely love reading about Ra and Khepri’s escapades! However, while there are some interesting historical nuggets to find in the book, we found that the biggest educational benefit for us just came from the repeated use of so many of the Egyptian gods’ names. It really normalized hearing them in a way that made it much easier to latch onto information about the gods during our tours of the temples in Egypt!
We listened to the audiobook through Audible, which helped a ton on name pronunciation. I can definitely recommend it! But a lot of the reviews mention how great the illustrations are in the paper versions, so if you’re not too worried about getting the names down, it could be worth it to get the physical book.
Cleopatra VII – Daughter of the Nile by Kristiana Gregory
Historical Fiction – 224 pages
Cleopatra VII was famously the final pharaoh of Egypt, and many remember her for her dramatic death. However, her life was equally filled with adventure and drama, and this book does a wonderful job of taking her history and weaving it into an incredible first-person narrative.
Daughter of the Nile is written as if it were the diary of a young Cleopatra writing about her life and is filled to bursting with fascinating glimpses into her life. From pet leopards and sightseeing trips, to assassination plots and fleeing for her life, this book goes into incredible detail in recording Cleopatra’s life. All while maintaining the feel of reading a personal diary!
I would suggest being careful about offering this book to younger readers, as history has a way of being more scary than fantastic, at times. (Cleopatra’s sister’s head is presented on a platter at one point.) But overall, this is a good read, and a great way to learn about one of Egypt’s most famous and well-loved pharaohs.
Temple Cat by Andrew Clements
Picture Book – 32 pages
Temple Cat is a richly illustrated story of a Cat living in a temple in ancient Egypt. Worshiped as a god, this cat wants nothing more than to escape to the streets to find freedom to live his life as he wishes.
Temple Cat is a beautiful picture book, and a great way to introduce younger kids to Egyptian temples, but it doesn’t do a particularly good job of teaching about what Egypt was like. Even still, it’s a nice enough story, and would make a fine addition to any young reader’s bookshelf.
Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx (Brownstone’s Mythical Collection 2) by Joe Todd-Stanton
Illustrated Children’s Adventure – 56 pages
This is actually the second book in a picture book series exploring world myths, but as the first one is set in Iceland, we’ll start here.
This is a gorgeously illustrated book following Marcy Brownstone on a quest to Egypt to rescue her father, a famous adventurer. On the way, Marcy meets gods and myths from Egypt’s lore, and finds that she has the courage to be an adventurer, just like her dad.
I really like this book, and it leans heavily into the Egyptian themes (at least in the second half of the book), but it is definitely a story book and not designed as an educational resource. Still, if you’re planning on taking a trip to Egypt and want to whet your kids’ appetites for an adventure, this makes an excellent bedtime story.
The Ancient Egypt Sleepover by Stephen Davies
Middle Grade Fiction – 160 pages
Getting to sleepover in an Ancient Egypt Museum? What could go wrong?
Mo is one of the winners of a writing competition where the prize is a sleepover at the British Museum. However, everything goes wrong when a group of thieves decide to pull a heist on the very same night that Mo and his fellow competition winners are there!
Now Mo and his friends must use their knowledge of Egypt and Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut to escape danger and save the day.
So, this book isn’t technically set in Egypt. But it still does a pretty decent job of getting kids excited for a trip! It’s quick-paced and fairly short, but still manages to pack in a number of fun facts and interesting tid-bits about the discovery of Tut’s tomb and about Egypt in general.
The God Catcher by Scott Peters
Middle Grade Historical Fiction – 280 pages
The God Catcher
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Much of the period fiction that is written about Egypt surrounds the Pharaohs and their lives, but that overlooks so much of what made Egypt what it was. Namely, everybody else.
The God Catcher instead starts its story by following an impoverished young boy who becomes an orphan. The people around him are convinced that his misfortune is caused not by chance, but because he has angered the gods through his art.
His struggle to prove himself and to bring honor to his parents’ memory has him continuing to practice his art, and eventually helps him to work for the pharaoh himself.
I’m often surprised at just how much factual information can be learned through reading fictional books. Whether it’s learning more about the gods and legends that make up Egypt’s mythology, or discovering the history of different Egyptian artifacts located around the world, fictional stories can teach us the most interesting things.
But these books won’t teach you everything. For that, you’re just going to have to visit Egypt yourself!
I hope your family enjoys these books! See you in Egypt, soon.
Also check out these articles on Egypt, or explore all my Egypt Posts!