The Golden Goblet (Newbery Library, Puffin)

This is such an interesting book, perfect for a young person (upper elementary school) who is studying or just interested in ancient Egypt. Written from the perspective of a boy that age in that time period. In the class where i learned of this book, the kids were quite taken with the story, and i made a recording of it for some non-readers and i thoroughly enjoyed it myself! You can read a review to learn more about the actual story, but i do recommend.

I’m homeschooled and this was a great book to read in our curriculum! If you homeschool your kids this book would work great as a read aloud and/or a silent read. This book has enough information that it feels enticing ,interesting and makes you want to read more. However, the author doesn’t put unnecessary information in or too extensive of a vocabulary that the book gets difficult or confusing. The author also gives a very vivid imagery to the story and really transports you to ancient Egypt! You can tell the author is very knowledgeable about this time and is very passionate about learning about it. Overall this book is a great read and not too hard, or easy but is just right.

We chose this to go with TGATB curriculum. It was great for helping us "see" and understand ancient Egypt in our minds. Even in church I felt like I had a better visual of ancient food, places, customs to some degree though probably not the correct era. Haha It works great as a read aloud. I think my 5 year old found the story boring though. My older kids enjoyed it but sometimes got lost with the very rich vocabulary, but I loved the vocabulary! I had to explain what was going on or ask what they thought was happening from time to time. The middle of the story felt a bit drawn out, but I'm sure it added to Ranofer's character being understood in a position in life that feels endless. The ending was clever and made us smile. Good book, glad we read it.

At what point did we start accepting child abuse as a proper story line for children? I've been thinking back to the books I enjoyed as a girl -- and I was a BIG reader -- and I can think of very few instances of child abuse in girls' literature. Sara Crewe has her ears boxed by Miss Minchin in "A Little Princess", and Amy has her hand switched in the classroom for violating the "no limes" rules, I think. That was in "Little Women" -- and although the March family was shocked when it happened, it probably should not count as child abuse.Yet here I have a Newbery book whose main child character, Ranofer, is physically tortured by his half-brother. Not content to orphan him, the author repeatedly had him whipped on the back, legs, shoulders, and beaten in the face. And also kicked. And systematically starved and robbed of his wages.I do like what the book has to say about accepting life's circumstances -- Ranofer did not enjoy the trade he was apprenticed in, and desperately wanted to become a goldsmith like his father. But a wise character told him to learn the trade and make the best of it. Another high point, the master goldsmith Zau refuses to solve Ranofer's problems for him -- he insists that Ranofer must rearrange his own life in order to come work as a goldsmith's apprentice. That's good -- keep your child understanding that he himself is the only person responsible for improving the conditions of his life.There are two clever friend characters. Ranofer himself is often depressed and helpless.5th or 6th graders. Gives a good idea for the life of crafts people and trades people in ancient Egypt. One execution scene. Foster parents and adoptive parents, you may want to pre-read.

I loved the author's other book, "Mara, Daughter of the Nile," one of my absolute FAVORITES from my childhood, so I expect that this one will be another!!!

I used this as a literature assignment for my 6th grader studying Ancient Egypt. It helped bring the time period alive and make his historical studies more interesting. A little encouragement was needed at the beginning of the book, but by the middle of the book the excitement of the plot had been built up, and the characters held my student's attention. He was excited to read the second half. He would say it was an interesting book if you have to read historical fiction instead of the fantasy genre, like Dragon Run or Fablehaven. For any parents or teachers concerned with trauma sensitive curriculum, there is some child neglect and some physical abuse such as withholding food, beatings and lashes. It was not overly violent detailed or gruesome though.

This is not a book we normally would have chosen, but added it to our sixth grade Egypt unit and really liked it. Glad it was on our list of recommendations. Will keep in our rotation for my other three kids coming up.

The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis Mcgraw is a historical fiction novel about a 12 yearold boy in ancient Egypt. It is written for intermediate level children.Ranofer is a boy who has a dream to be a gold maker just like his father. His abusivebrother Gebu stands in the way. When passing his brother’s room, he finds a golden goblet.Then he goes on a journey through Thebes.This book was nicely written, but not the average child's bed-time story. I recomend it for history classes.

My 10 year old son said:"I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down. It really helped my school topic of Egyptians come alive. There are lots of interesting characters and the older brother is plain evil. I would recommend this book for ages 8+."

I had this book as a child and was gripped by it then so I was delighted to find it on Amazon. It would be a really good read for (or to) a child studying Eqyption history. It's an exciting adventure with masses of cultural detail.

great

Great book filled with adventure and history. Good paperback edition.