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Pyramid | 
 enlarge | Author: David Macaulay
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $9.95
Buy Used: $2.99
You Save: $6.96 (70%)
New (33) Used (61) Collectible (3) from $2.99
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 28374
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 80
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 11.9 x 8.7 x 0.6
ISBN: 0395321212
Dewey Decimal Number: 690.68
UPC: 046442321211
EAN: 9780395321218
ASIN: 0395321212
Publication Date: April 26, 1982
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
When children catch their first glimpse of a pyramid, a sea of questions inevitably tumbles forth. "Why are they shaped like that?" "How were they made?" "Who made them?" "What were they used for?" Perplexed adults can sigh with relief now that David Macaulay has found a way to thoroughly answer all those deserving questions. His exquisitely crosshatched pen-and-ink illustrations frame the engaging fictional story of an ancient pharaoh who commissions a pyramid to be built for him. With great patience and respect for minute detail (not unlike the creators of the early pyramids), Macaulay explains the sometimes backbreaking tasks of planning, hauling, chiseling, digging, and hoisting that went into the construction of this awe-inspiring monument. Just when the narrative teeters on the edge of textbook doldrums, Macaulay brings us back to the engaging human drama of death and superstition. This respectful blending of architecture, history, and mysticism will certainly satiate pyramid-passionate children as well as their obliging parents. ALA Notable Book. (Ages 9 and older) --Gail Hudson
Product Description
Through concise text and richly detailed black and white illustrations we come to know the philosophy of life and death in ancient Egypt.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 How did this guy learn to draw? September 1, 2001
Charles Flemming (Burleson, TX USA)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
Who hasn't wondered how the Great Pyramids came to be? In this stunningly illustrated, richly detailed book, David Macaulay skillfully shows one way they could have been built. I had ordered the book for our family's study of ancient Egypt, based on a recommendation in The Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Egypt, which raved about it. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was stunned at the detail and care of the drawings and fascinated by the accounts. Although the long descriptions were daunting for my then-first grader, the illustrations caught her eye, and her older siblings dug into it with enthusiasm.
Great read on a deep topic July 21, 1999
J. Moore (USA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
This is a fabulous book for anyone looking to learn more about the pyramids of Ancient Egypt without the burden of scholar-like vocabulary and disturbing depth. But at the same time the book conveys the mysteries of the pyramids with a keen intellect of the topic. The author knows his topic but writes his book so anyone can enjoy the knowledge and enlightenment a deeper understanding of the past can provide.
PYRAMID "SECRETS" REVEALED! June 5, 1999
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Who built the pyramids of the Giza Plateau...and why? How were the two million massive stone blocks quarried and set into place? David MacAulay answers these questions and more in a most historically accurate and logically developed book. Written for children, MacAulay takes the reader through each intricate step of the pyramid's construction from its conception on papyrus to its final completion. Leaving no stone unturned, PYRAMID also provides intriguing information on the daily lives of the Ancient Egyptians: how they viewed life and death, and what God and the afterlife meant to them. Each page is filled with sprawling pen and ink drawings which clearly illustrate their clever engineering techniques. PYRAMID is a simply written but vastly informative and enjoyable book.
Egyptian Pyramids August 7, 2001
Cletus F. Wallace (Coatesville, PA, USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
David MacAulty's book discusses and illustrates "one method" by which the pyramids of Egypt may have been built, and follows the construction step by step. His pen and ink drawings are excellent. The book may have been written for children (ages 9 and older) but, I enjoyed the book. I highly recommend it for adults and children with an interest in the pyramids. My eight year old son was fascinated by the book. Hopefully, his interest in Egyptology has been sparked by this fine book. I tend to disagree with the author when he refers to the pyramids as tombs. No bodies have been found within the pyramids. Its more likely the pyramids were used as structures for initiation ceremonies. Although, not specifically stated the entire book, except for a brief discussion of the Queen's pyramid and the mummification process, is devoted to the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The brief discussion of the mummification process is just the right amount of information for a child's book.
 A captivating book on a popular subject with children September 15, 2004
Kara Reuter (Columbus, OH)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
With exquisitely detailed black-line drawings, this book shows how the pyramids in Egypt may have been constructed. A two-page introduction gives some background of life in Egypt, including an overview of Egyptian spiritual beliefs and practices, especially those related to death and dying. The introduction makes clear that this book is based on an imaginary pharaoh and an imaginary pyramid and that there are differences of opinion about the construction process the Egyptians used.
After the brief introduction, the illustrations dominate, comprising as much as 80% of the pages. Almost like time-lapse photography, readers can see the pyramid grow in vast landscapes, giving children a good sense of the scale of the pyramids, where people are just specks dotting the sides of the massive structure. In addition to these landscapes, Macaulay includes background on the people who designed and built their pyramids and their techniques with illustrations of the different workers and their tools, as well as architectural floor plans and cutaway diagrams.
The text is difficult and presents challenges with its vocabulary and syntax as well as its concepts. A one-page glossary of Egyptian and architectural terms provides some assistance. However, the account of how the priest uses the stars to locate true north is a difficult concept to comprehend; the textual and pictorial explanations may not be sufficient for any but advanced readers.
Though the text and many of the concepts are demanding, young readers will be carried along by the drawings that truly offer a step-by-step guide to how the pyramids were built. The distant and perhaps "quaint"-seeming aspects of Egyptian beliefs and practices are nicely contrasted with their highly advanced, ingenious construction techniques. Children familiar with some aspects of ancient Egypt will perhaps be able to see the "bigger picture" and gain insight and appreciation into the culture of the ancient Egyptians. Younger children will enjoy following the process and watching the pyramid grow from page to page, while older children interested in the "how's" behind history will appreciate this novel approach to learning about ancient Egypt.
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