Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs

by James Rumford

Book Overview

In 1802, Jean-Francois Champollion was eleven years old. That year, he vowed to be the first person to read Egypt's ancient hieroglyphs. Champollion's dream was to sail up the Nile in Egypt and uncover the secrets of the past, and he dedicated the next twenty years to the challenge.
James Rumford introduces the remarkable man who deciphered the ancient Egyptian script and fulfilled a lifelong dream in the process. Stunning watercolors bring...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618333452
• ISBN13: 9780618333455
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 10.8" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Hieroglyphs No Longer A Mystery

This book is a must read for everyone! As homes schoolers this book brings to light the best in an amazing young scholar. The artwork is delightful, the story is timeless in its message as well as its historical truth. This book brought to life the amazing dedication and direction of a young man. If you only choose one book that explores hieroglyphs, let this be it! It brings to life the mystery that surrounds ancient egypt and empowers young people to acheive their goals. Our 1 and 3 year old enjoyed the pictures and the story, our 8 year old asked if he could see the Rosetta stone and learn to write his name in heiroglyphs! This book draws you in and holds you. This book is fabulous!

Great find, especially for teachers!!!!!

I was looking for a book about someone related to Egypt for a lesson plan! When I found this book I was so excited! It fit perfectally with my hieroglyph lesson! It is wonderfully written with extraordinary illustrations! I not only recommend this book for teachers but for those interested in the subject of Egypt!!

A Language of Many Senses

Remember the first books you read? How the puzzling out of the symbols was as exciting as the story? This evocative book by James Rumford revisits that experience. He interweaves text and images to let us know how meaning can be discovered. It's a little like reading a mystery story made up of pictographic clues. In structuring the story this way, Rumford is giving us the chance to do many things: relive our discovery of reading, learn the logic of a unique language, and imagine ourselves in the position of that of the subject of this book, the man who deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs, Jean-Francois Champollion.Rumford's message is also a layered one, with the moral of the story reinforced by images within it. The moral: be curious, passionate and patient. First, imagine your dream. Then, pursue your dream even if others laugh at you or think you are too young. Eventually your belief in your dream will affect others, too, just as Jean-Francois's brothers were affected. They bought him notebooks for his hieroglyphs and took him to Paris to meet Egyptian scholars. The structure of the Egyptian language, Rumford reveals, was in a curious combination of sight and sound. His telling of the tale made me wonder at all the steps the young Champollion went through to arrive at his eventual illumination of Egyptian hieroglyphics' meaning. When his powerful patron was discredited, when hours of study still revealed no answer, still he would not give up. At the end of the book, Rumford's last watercolor illustration (he is both author and artist) is evocative of the story. I could feel the colors of Egypt, and the birds that inspired the symbols used in the language. Rumford's pictures - not only the illustrations but also the pictographs he uses as part of the text - create a sense of what a language made of sights and sounds might suggest. It's a lovely book, and a book that assumes intelligence and curiosity on the part of the reader. As if he had not already inspired us by the example of Champollion's persistence and passion, Rumford finishes off the book with a "learn more" section that is sure to motivate the reader to delve into the art of the Egyptian language.

An Inspiring Book

"Seeker of Knowledge" is well written and beautifully illustrated. It's a story of Jean- Francois Champollion who vowed to be the first to decipher Egypt's lost writings (hieroglyphs). With determination and hard work, Champollion finally mastered the strange picture code. This book teaches children of all ages that their dreams and aspirations will come true with knowledge and hard work. Definitely a good buy!

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian...

This beautifully illustrated children's picture book encourages children to dream and shows that dreams can be realized through hard work. I loved the fact that the hero of this book is a scholar. I think the book captures the essence of this great man's life and is an excellent introduction to Egyptology and the study of hieroglyphs. We need more books like this for children.