From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9–This oversized novelty book has a gold cover with red, plastic, "jewel" inlays to add to the drama. Written as an amateur Egyptologist's travel journal from 1926, each spread covers a distinct area of antiquity and is mainly factual in content, except for the author's chatty asides. The type resembles that of an old manual typewriter and the photos, reproductions, and sketches make the journal seem more realistic. There are papyrus pull-outs, pop-up art, minibooks, and fold-out maps and an envelope in the back with period postcards, ticket stubs, etc. Libraries will find the book useful for teaching journal writing, but difficult to keep together.–Carol Wichman, formerly at Northridge Local Schools, Dayton, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 3-6. Bound in gold and embellished with ruby-red "jewels," this follow-up to Dr. Ernest Drake's Dragonology (2003)--which, like Dragonology, credits a fictional character as its author, leaving those responsible for its written content unacknowledged--purports to be the scrapbook of an amateur archaeologist gone missing during the height of 1920s Egyptomania. As in Dragonology, pull-out documents, sundry flaps, and other novelty elements (including a "sample of mummy cloth" and a game of Egyptian checkers) will have children breathlessly anticipating each page turn. Even so, this seems to lack the cohesive artistic purpose that distinguished its predecessor. The images often appear overly slick, compromising the notion that they have been sketched on the fly by members of the expedition, and a fantastical frame story about the "lost tomb of Osiris" undermines the informational content, despite an awkward concluding attempt to separate fact from fiction. Dragonology's broad crossover success probably won't be reincarnated here, but the allure of the subject matter and the luxe packaging is likely to be considerable. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
A new discovery from the publishers of DRAGONOLOGY! Discover the wonders of ancient Egypt through a fascinating journal from a lost expedition - a treasure trove of fact and fantasy featuring a novelty element on every spread. Here are just a few of EYGPTOLOGY's special features: 1) an extravagantly gilded cover, featuring a raised Horus hawk pendant with three encrusted gems 2) a playable game of Senet(ancient Egyptian checkers) including playing board, pieces, original-style dice, and rules 3) a souvenir booklet showing how to read simple hieroglyphs 4) a scrap of "mummy cloth" 5) a facsimile of the gilded mummy mask of King Tut 6) a gilded eye-of-Horus amulet with a "jewel" 7) fold-out maps 8) drawings and photographs 9) period postcards 10) a letter from the former Keeper of Antiquities at the British Museum, explaining which parts of this unique tale may be accepted as fact, which are guided by legend, and which reflect the author's delightful sense of fancy.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Who can resist the allure of ancient Egypt -- and the thrill of uncovering mysteries that have lain hidden for thousands of years? Not the feisty Miss Emily Sands, who in 1926, four years after the discovery of King Tut's tomb, led an expedition up the Nile in search of the tomb of the god Osiris. Alas, Miss Sands and crew soon vanished into the desert, never to be seen again. But luckily, her keen observations live on in the form of a lovingly kept journal, full of drawings, photographs, booklets, foldout maps, postcards, and many other intriguing samples. Here are just a few of Egyptology's special features:

an extravagantly gilded cover, featuring a raised Horus hawk pendant with three encrusted gems
a playable game of Senet -- ancient Egyptian checkers -- including board, pieces, original-style dice, and rules
a souvenir booklet showing how to read simple heiroglyphs
a scrap of textured "mummy cloth"
a facsimile of the gilded mummy mask of King Tut
a gilded eye-of-Horus amulet with a "jewel" at the end

Rich with information about life in ancient Egypt and peppered with Miss Sands's lively narration, Egyptology concludes with a letter from the former Keeper of Antiquities at the British Museum, explaining which parts of this unique tale may be accepted as fact, which are guided by legend, and which reflect the author's delightful sense of fancy.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Following up on the winning format of the bestselling Dragonology, Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris by Emily Sands, illus. by Nick Harris, Ian Andrew and Helen Ward, takes readers from Cairo on the 1st of November, 1926, to the Sphinx on the Giza plateau, through the Valley of the Kings where Tutankhamen's tomb lies, and finally to the completion of the mission in January 1927: the tomb of Osiris. A golden cover bearing a Horus hawk with "three gems" opens to the journal entries of Emily Sands, complete with detailed sketches of various tombs, modes of transport, etc., as well as full-color paintings, plus postcards to lift and envelopes to open. Sands's clever quips and fascinating facts will hold the rapt attention of novices to the topic and Egyptian fanatics alike. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal