Beautiful illustrations/images accompany this well-written book meant for both the young and older. Many living today have/had the opportunity of seeing the actual, and incredible artifacts that Howard Carter found in 1915 in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings.
This is the story of seeking and finding the hoped for treasures that Englishman, Carter, who since a child dreamed of finding a trove of beautiful, anything Egyptian, but specifically he wanted a mummy.

Obsessessed with possessing, cantankeous Howard Carter was hired at 17 to work with the Egypt Exploration Fund, and was sent to Egypt to learn archaelology and excavation. Quite a silly, but nasty man, he was not liked. Digging and searching for years, finally to his amazment he came upon the most beautiful and famous mummy of all.

To dig and dig in the hot sun, while wearing a neat suit, Carter never gave up. I can only imagine the feelings he experienced when actually, truly, finding this stellar group of incredible objects.

This book is dedicated not only to the man, but also to the actual find as by hard work, and a lot of luck, first steps were discovered. Twelve in all led downward, downward under the ground. As the book notes, Carter uncovered a top portion of a doorway, not knowing what was behind, he opened the royal seal that held the door closed.

Howard meticulously drew maps of all his archeological work. He drew the area, the steps, and seal and a corner of a door that ws broken and repaired. The tomb was found before Howard Carter as noted by the seal. But, when opened it appeared intact. The mummy was incredibly beautiful and laden and carved with gold.

This remains one of the most special and incredible find to date. ( )

Fascinated by mummies (and by all things Egyptian) since he was a little boy, Howard Carter set out to make discoveries of his own, taking a job as an artist with the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1891, when he was seventeen years old. Teaching himself everything he needed to know to become an expert excavator, he was eventually the archaeologist who uncovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun, in 1922...

The second picture-book biography I have read from author Tracey Fern, following upon her Pippo the Fool, and the third picture-book overall, Howard and the Mummy: Howard Carter and the Search for King Tut's Tomb presents an engaging tale of discovery and hard work. The author emphasizes throughout how much Carter had to struggle, essentially educating himself in the field, and she also delves into her subject's prickly personality, which made him unpopular, despite his fame. She discusses how the excavation of King Tut's tomb was the most thorough and scientific archaeological dig ever conducted, up to that point, which is an interesting point, highlighting the importance, not just of Carter's discovery, but of his methology. The accompanying artwork from illustrator Boris Kulikov, who worked with Fern on a number of other picture-book biographies, is appealing, making excellent use of sepia tones and light to create a sense of mystery and excitement. A brief afterword gives more information, and a list of sources is included as well.

All in all, this is a book I would recommend to young biography and history lovers, and to all children fascinated by Ancient Egypt. It could be paired very nicely with James Rumsford's Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs—another picture-book biography about a pioneering Egyptologist. ( )