cover image Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile

Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile

Tomie dePaola. Putnam Publishing Group, $16.99 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-399-21395-3

On Monday Bill Crocodile learns about his hometown on the River Nile from a spectacled Ms. Ibis; on Tuesday, about the Sphinx; Pharaohs, burial chambers and pyramids on Wednesday; Thursday is the day for the Sacred Eye of Isis. Finally, on Friday, he sees it all on a class trip to the Royal Museum, where Bill and Pete doughtily save the famous Isis jewel from ""Bad Guy.'' On their journey down the Nile, dePaola's duo transport readers from the mummified past to a living present. Time distinction is abolished as the Nile Queen, the Grand Hotel, cars and umbrellas, sarcophaguses, sacred jewels and sphinxes are all part of the setting for an ancient story that still bears retelling. Shades of blue and gold strengthen the mood of the mystery and adventure. Ages 26. (May)