The King of Egypt is a book about a young girl named Meret who lives in Egypt and her greatest desire is to learn how to read and write. At this time in Egypt though, girls were not taught these things. Meret's father worked as a scribe and one day took her to visit Hatshepsut's temple. While they were visiting the temple the Pharaoh dropped in for a visit and no one knew she was coming. Meret was trying to stay out of site from the crowds but while admiring the carving on a wall she stated out loud that it was not fair that she could not read. Suddenly, from behind her she heard a woman's voice who agreed with her that it was not fair. While more people gathered around the she realized that the woman she had been talking to was the King of Egypt. Hatshepsut, having sympathy on Meret, tells her father to be sure and help her learn how to both read and write.
This would be a good book to use in the classroom because it shows the students how people lived in Egypt in this time period. I would have my student's write a thank you letter from Meret to Hatshepsut thanking her for giving her permission to learn how to read and write. I think this would be good to hypothetically show Hatshepsut the improvement that Meret has made. It will be good for them to think about and write about this hypothetical situation.
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