Learn about Ancient Eygpt with
The Cat of Bubastes {Review}
Are you looking for a way to teach history in an exciting and engaging way? Are you teaching your children about Ancient Egypt? Earlier this year I had the pleasure of reviewing an audio drama by Heirloom Audio Productions. I was thrilled to see that Heirloom Audio Productions has done it again with their newest CD: The Cat of Bubastes!
The Cat of Bubastes is part of The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty by Heirloom Audio Productions. Heirloom Audio Productions has a reputation for creating wonderful and exciting audio dramas that are fun for both kids and adults, alike.
The Cat of Bubastes does not disappoint. It is approximately 2 hours long and it feels more like listening to a well-made movie rather than an ordinary audio book. It features an original score created by an Emmy Award-Winning Composer: John Campbell! This music helps create mood, along with a narrator, actors, and actresses that complete this descriptive journey into Ancient Egypt. In addition to the CD, when you purchase the Cat of Bubastes, you get so many extras!
I was so surprised to see just how many extras came with this audio drama! Once you own the CD you can log-in to your account on the Heirloom Audio website to find the bonuses including:
- E-book, “The Cat of Bubastes, a Tale of Ancient Egypt,”
- MP3 of the drama and of the soundtrack
- a printable cast poster
- a study guide and discussion starter
- an inspirational Bible Verse Poster
- and a behind the scenes video documentary with the cast and crew
The Study Guide is a fantastic resource to delve a little deeper into the story. It also helps spark discussion. The study guide is divided up with the tracks of the CD. Most tracks are short – approximately 5 minutes each.
Each page of the guide has a “Listening Well” portion which asks a series of questions about what the student just listened to. This helps to see if the kids are paying attention and how well they are retaining the story. This may be a good time to allow the kids to ask questions and discuss what they just heard.
The next section is entitled, “Thinking Further” and these questions dig a little deeper so that the student needs to think about the situations and what is happening in the story.
Each page also has a “Defining Words” Section which is simply a group of vocabulary words which they just heard in the story. This would be a good time to discuss the words and make sure the students understand the meaning. Better yet, they could look up the answers in the dictionary and write the definitions.
Some of the pages also included an “Expand Your Learning” Section which teaches more about Ancient Egypt and their culture. For instance, on page 14 of the Study Guide, there is special “Expand Your Learning” Section all about the Ancient Egyptian Diet and what types of crops they grew. These sections reflect whatever passage they just listened to on the CD.
My kids and I thoroughly enjoyed this CD as we worked on our handicrafts (mainly crocheting blankets and scarves) and as we ran errands around town. The story had its share of adventure, courage, romance, and deep discussion about the difference between the “gods of Egypt” and of The One True God of Israel. The Cat of Bubastes, along with being highly entertaining, is the perfect addition to learning about Ancient Egypt. We learned about the animals which were considered sacred to Egyptians during that time, the temple, the gods of Ancient Egypt, the Israeli Slaves, and other cultural differences. I could see this being a great addition to any history program but especially to the classical or Charlotte Mason approach of teaching history starting with the ancients and incorporating living books into your studies. What better way to make history come alive for your children?
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Instagram: @HeirloomAudioOfficial
