Riddle of Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt » (Reprint)

James Cross Giblin is the author of eighteen books for young readers, many of which have received awards and honors. Twelve of his titles, most recently Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero and When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS have been named Notable Children's Books by the American Library Association. In 1996 he received the Washington Post—Children's Book Guild Award for Nonfiction for his body of work. Mr. Giblin lives in New York City.

"Until the Rosetta Stone was finally translated and the decoding of hieroglyphic writing made possible, much of Egyptian history was lost. The author has done a masterful job of distilling information, citing the highlights, and fitting it all together in an interesting and enlightening look at a puzzling subject." —H. "The social and intellectual history here are fascinating. A handsome, inspiring book." —K.

Notable Children's Books of 1991 (ALA)
Notable 1990 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Children's Books of 1990 (Library of Congress)
100 Books for Reading and Sharing (NY Public Library)
Parenting Honorable Mention, Reading Magic Award

Children's Literature

In 1799, one year after they invaded Egypt, Napoleon's solders discovered an eleven-inch-thick, roughly 2- x 3-foot slab of black basalt covered with writing in three different scripts, one Greek and two Egyptian-hieroglyphs and demotic. James Giblin has written an engrossing account of the unsuccessful attempts to translate hieroglyphs prior to the stone's unearthing and Jean-Francois Champollion's brilliant success in breaking The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone with the discovery that hieroglyphs represented both things and sounds. Ancient Egyptian writing was both ideographic and phonetic. Whether or this subject is on your agenda, the brilliant, persevering M. Champollion is someone youngsters should meet-particularly as introduced here by one of nonfiction's best storytellers. 1993 (orig.