Step back in time with explorers’ journals from Sands and Drake“Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris†By Emily SandsPublisher: Candlewick Press; November 2004ISBN: 0-763-62638-4; hardcover, 32 pages; $19.99Appropriate for children ages 8 and older“Dr. Ernest Drake’s Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons†By Earnest DrakePublisher: Candlewick Press; November 2003ISBN: 0-763-62329-6; hardcover, 32 pages; $19.99Appropriate for children ages 8 and older
I’ve always loved reading travel journals, compilations of ship’s logs and adventure memoirs — learning of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated arctic expedition on the Endurance, Captain Cook’s ill-fated journeys in the South Pacific and Amelia Earhart’s ill-fated flight around the world.
These are merely some of the dramatic figures who risked life and limb for the sake of learning, sharing their knowledge and testing their strength, will and the world’s newest technologies against nature. Their journals and travel logs make for fascinating reading, give us insight into the spirit of an explorer and introduce us to a world less familiar.
Of course, many adventurers lived happily ever after and died well into their dotage. But who can resist a good mystery? Earhart remains as compelling a figure now as during her glory days in the 1930s, and nobody is really sure what prompted the Hawaiians to turn Cook into a nautical martyr … and such puzzles launch the imagination.
As a homage to the golden days of discovery, the fine folks at Candlewick Press have just released “Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris,†a new “discovery†in the vein of the company’s wildly popular, award-winning “Dragonology,†published last year.
In this lavishly-illustrated fictional adventure journal, children will learn of the vivacious Miss Emily Sands, who in 1926 — four years after the discovery of King Tut's tomb and during the height of Egyptomania — led an expedition up the Nile in search of the tomb of the god Osiris.
Alas, Miss Sands and her intrepid crew vanished into the desert, never to be seen again — but her keen observations live on in the form of a “newly recovered†descriptive journal of her travels and discoveries.
Sands’ scrapbook is chockfull of drawings, photographs, foldout maps, postcards, an ancient board game, a scrap of “mummy cloth,†an instructional booklet to deciphering hieroglyphs and an amulet. The book and its “artifacts†introduce children to the ways in which information was analyzed, classified and shared in the days before carbon dating, digital cameras and the Internet.
“Egyptology†is also rich in factual information about life in ancient Egypt and entertainingly peppered with Sands' lively, chatty narration. It 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 sense of fancy.
As with “Dragonology†— which shared the fictional “long-lost,†and quite eccentric, research journals of renowned 19th century dragonologist, Dr. Ernest Drake — “Egyptology†nourishes the imagination and encourages wonder and discovery. The books are also excellent examples for parents wanting to introduce children to the process of journal writing or keeping a scrapbook or travel log.
Lani Stack is a former preschool teacher and an avid reader who keeps meaning to begin her own journals, scrapbooks and travel logs.
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Letter: Is the Select Board Listening to Dalton Voters?
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
A reasonable expectation by the people of a community is that their Select Board rises above personal preference and represents the collective interests of the community. On Tuesday night [Nov. 12], what occurred is reason for concern that might not be true in Dalton.
This all began when a Select Board member submitted his resignation effective Oct. 1 to the Town Clerk. Wishing to fill the vacated Select Board seat, in good faith I followed the state law, prepared a petition, and collected the required 200-plus signatures of which the Town Clerk certified 223. The Town Manager, who already had a copy of the Select Board member's resignation, was notified of the certified petitions the following day. All required steps had been completed.
Or had they? At the Oct. 9 Select Board meeting when Board members discussed the submitted petition, there was no mention about how they were informed of the petition or that they had not seen the resignation letter. Then a month later at the Nov. 12 Select Board meeting we learn that providing the resignation letter and certified petitions to the Town Manager was insufficient. However, by informing the Town Manager back in October the Select Board had been informed. Thus, the contentions raised at the Nov. 12 meeting by John Boyle seem like a thinly veiled attempt to delay a decision until the end of January deadline to have a special election has passed.
If this is happening with the Special Election, can we realistically hope that the present Board will listen to the call by residents to halt the rapid increases in spending and our taxes that have been occurring the last few years and pass a level-funded budget for next year, or to not harness the taxpayers in town with the majority of the cost for a new police station? I am sure these issues are of concern to many in town. However, to make a change many people need to speak up.
Please reach out to a Select Board member and let them know you are concerned and want the Special Election issue addressed and finalized at their Nov. 25 meeting.
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