This was my favorite book in elementary school. I believe we read it in 5th grade, and I loved it so much that my sister and I collected cast-offs from our neighbor’s yard sale and created our own “Egypt game” in the backyard.

Revisiting the story as an adult was fun. Some of the content hasn’t aged well. Most children don’t have the level of freedom to wander their cities the way that the protagonists here do (which proves dangerous for our Egypt gang, despite the more trusting times of the 1960s). Young readers today might find it odd that a preschooler was allowed to wander the city with 4th & 6th graders to a location that none of their parents & guardians knew of.

There were moments where language was insensitive, which is not surprising considering it was published in 1967.

This book is nowhere near perfect, but I’ll always love it for its ability to turn me into a young reader who not only enjoyed the book, but was inspired to bring it to life. It taught me that books that speak to us can shape our imaginations, and even our actions.

It’s a problematic favorite that I am glad I revisited, but wouldn’t likely recommend to students today.