Voices of Ancient Egypt By: Kay Winters Illustrated by: Barry Moser

Voices of Ancient Egypt is a childrens picture book written by Kay Winters that describes
different careers that people had in ancient Egypt. This book is an informational book because it
gives accurate and factual information about the subject at hand. The author includes her
references in the back of the book and in the front is a note stating that the contents of the book
including both text and illustrations were carefully reviewed for accuracy by an accredited
Egyptian expert. Whats unique about this book is that its written like 13 short poems each one
telling about a different career. The theme of this book could fall under social studies or ancient
civilizations.
The recommended reading level for this book is 3-5 grade which I believe is appropriate.
This book would be a very useful tool to have in the classroom when talking about ancient
Egypt. Not only does the book give very useful information about 13 different jobs of the ancient
world, it also breaks it down individually so the information is very clear and concise. Students
that were doing a project about ancient Egypt would benefit greatly from using this book.
Because this book is also a poetry book, many of the literary devices found in it align
with that of a poetry book. First and most notable is that each section is broken up into its own
stanzas that are apart form the other parts of the story. Unlike many poems that use figurative
language, these poems because they are informational, use literal language. This means that
what is said is based in reality instead of saying it in a round about way. Assonance is also very
prevalent throughout these verses. Which is the close repetition of a vowel sound.
Voice of Ancient Egypt is illustrated by Barry Moser. Like mentioned before the
illustrations were verified by an expert on the subject of ancient Egypt to make sure they were
correctly represented. The illustrations are done in watercolors that are reflective of the warm
colors of the Egyptian sun and sand. Each page has its own illustrations and each illustration
shows a representation of what the worker would look like in their everyday duties. I believe the
illustrations help readers to get a better idea of what the worker would be doing back in ancient
times. Along with the illustrations there are also hieroglyphics included that represent the name
of each worker. I thought this inclusion was very thoughtful because readers get a glimpse of
how the people in this story communicated as well through this form of written language.