Find out what Mumsnetters thought of children's book Jake Atlas and the Tomb of the Emerald Snake

My Son read this and loved it. He fancies the idea of being a Egyptologist.. I may have to look in to a holiday to Egypt :)

It kept his interest for the whole story and he said he will read it again

It's a fast moving adventure with lots of gadgets that appeal to kids mixed in with ancient Egyptian tales which my son really enjoyed. It's a great adventure book

Received the book and my 8yr old dd is enjoying it so far. She keeps telling me little snippets of it but will give a full update when she has finished it.

Engrossing book. Better for slightly older children, I think.

11 year old loved it, and found Jake to be a very enthralling and enjoyable character.

He loved reading about the gadgets, and didn't even complain about the existence of the sister.

Good adventure book for both boys and girs.

My son read this book after the author visited his school in Newcastle. He found it exciting and funny, especially when they found out that the Snake Lady's real name was Marjorie! One of the best books he's ever read! he told me!

Sounds like it will be quite an adventure

my child hasn't read this one just yet

My son borrowed a copy of this and both he and I enjoyed it very much. It was a very fast moving adventure with lots of high tech gadgetry to appeal to kids but linked in with ancient Egyptian tales for some subliminal learning. Although the tale itself is a fantastic adventure, the family dynamics are realistic and reassuring to those that would read it and there is plenty of humour without it being forced. This would make a great film as it really is Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Mission Impossible as the author describes and we look forward to reading the further adventures to come from the family business (and even a prequel as the Jake and Pan's backstory could be a book in itself!)

Jake Atlas
My 9 yr old son picked up the book and didn't want to put it down until he finished it! I've never seen him so enthralled in a book. He has taken it to school to show it to his teacher and his friends. Moreover, he has started writing his own adventure stories! He is on story number 3!!! I'm completely over the moon!

Thanks for our copy of the book!

I read it really quickly before my eight year old. I enjoyed it a lot. It was easy to follow and exciting throughout with a good fast pace.

I have a perfectly capable but reluctant reader so I'm always looking for stories for him to read. We're reading it together and he's really enjoying it. It's not going to massively improve their knowledge of ancient Egypt, it's not going to increase their vocabulary or change their lives. But it will hold their attention from start to finish and just maybe enthuse them about reading. What's not to love?!

Thank you for our free copy. My DD was thrilled to have an adventure book (her favourite genre) set in ancient Egypt as she has been learning about it at school. She raced through it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't read it so can't comment on its literary merits!

Her homework was a book review so this is what she had to say:
Jake Atlas and the Tomb of the Emerald Snake is exciting, interesting and heart-pounding. It is good enough to recommend to a friend (!) Once you start reading you can't put it down! I enjoyed it so much it only took me two days to read. This book is full of a bit of everything I enjoy: mystery, adventure and excitement!
The story is set in Cairo and is about two children trying to find the Tomb of Osiris by an evil cult. Secrets, enemies and emerald tablets make this a wonderful story.

My nephew got my copy as my daughter isn't quite old enough for it. Been reading it with my sister (who doesn't think it's great) but Sam enjoyed it, especially as he has learnt about Egypt at school. Sister says she thinks he sees himself in the Jake character

DD was not particularly impressed when we received this book. We read the prologue together but so far it doesn't seem to have grabbed her interest in order to continue reading. I think for a, (just turned), 8 year old the story and the plot is quite complex and would appeal much more to older children/teenagers. I will keep the book for her to read at a later date. Having said all this, it was lovely to receive a free book so thank you to Mumsnet and Walker books.

My 8 year old son loved this book as did I, except for the reckless behaviour of Jake, probably why my son loved it so much.

My son can't wait to read the next installment and loved the fact that Jake and Pandora get to explore and play with cool gadgets.

So glad that I won the book to read as I don't think my son would have picked this up from the library. It has opened up a whole new genre for him.

Thanks Mumsnet & Walker Books for our copy of this book.

I quickly read this before passing it to my 10 year old son - history mad so I thought this would be right up his street, and it was! It's a fast paced story (bit mad at times) and packed with action with a fun main character. Don't expect kids to learn any great lessons from it - it's not deep & thought provoking - but hey, sometimes I just like to read for fun too - and reading is reading with kids as far as I'm concerned. I liked the fact it was a traditional adventure story (think Indiana Jones) but that it has been modernised and made to appeal to today's kids with some really cool gadgets along the way (that would give Young James Bond a run for his money). Absolutely nothing offensive in it, which is great.
Even better, because the cover has a girl on the front too (Jake's sister) my 8 year old daughter is looking forward to her brother letting her read it when he finishes it for the second time!
Might not be everyone's cup of tea - but honest feedback from our home is : a good fun read, 4.5/5.

DS (7) was not particularly excited when I said I had a new book for him to read (although he is an avid reader). However, when the book arrived he was desperate to start reading it - the cover image and blurb had him excited! He was in the middle of another book so we rushed through that so we could start Jake as soon as possible... We are about 5 chapters in but are both enjoying the plot and characters so far. What has DS enjoyed? The naughty but nice Jake is fun and exciting; Egypt, mummies etc. are intriguing, techy references (& Nando's!) are relatable and the end-of-chapter cliff-hangers mean he ALWAYS wants to read another chapter. In addition, I like the short chapters as we can easily grab a few minutes of quiet to read a chapter together.

Will update once we've finished the book...

C. (girl 9) and L. boy (6) just didn't take to this. They didn't particularly like Jake and soon lost interest in the plot. C., however did like it that there was a girl character, but this did not continue to hold her interest.
It remains unfinished.
You can't win them all!

My 13 year old Goddaughter read this after I had. I thought it was great and really enjoyed it. I thought it was easy to grasp and well written as a 12 1/2 (!) year old.

My goddaughter wrote this review for me about her thoughts "The main characters are Jake Atlas, a 12 ½ year old boy, who finds himself in a lot of trouble. Pandora his twin sister, is a clever person who gets bullied because of it. Jane and John, their parents who aren’t as boring as the children believe. Sami and Kit, the parent’s friends of old. The snake lady who holds the key to any secrets.

This story is narrated by Jake Atlas, this gives the story some texture, as it gives the reader to thoughts and feelings of a 12-year-old boy, with a lot to process. He and his family go on holiday to Egypt, but then his parents go missing, so he and his sister, Pandora, team up with their parent’s old friends Sami and Kit to find out where they have gone. Along the way, they find out many secrets.

The story describes Egypt in such detail, I felt I could picture it well.

The story covers about four days in the families’ lives and centres on how much love they have for each other, even when they don’t show it. As the story unfolds, the relationship between the characters changes, as they start off not seemingly very close, but end up a family unit.

I like the dramatic start to the story, it makes you want to find out what will happen next right from the beginning. I enjoyed seeing all the different parts link up at the end, giving me a chance to be a detective and work out what was happening.

I would read and recommend this book and others written by this author because I liked the suspense."

I've personally not read it but my 8yr old Nephew did He said it was exciting he loved the daring hunts the mummies and thought the gadgets sounded cool One of his classmates wants to borrow it now

Thanks for sending us a copy of Jake Atlas and the Tomb of the Emerald Snake. Both my daughter 9, and son 11 have now read it. Although I didn't read it myself, it was clear both my kids found the story engrossing, (simply by the fact they were so focused on the book until it was finished - we caught my son reading it at midnight!), as well as them both wanting to read random bits out to us because they found it funny.

The 9 yr old says she 'liked the book, her favourite part was the bit in the hot air balloon, when Jake bungeed out of it. Some bits were scary and she didn't understand all the words. She would recommend it to people who are adventurous, and don't mind gross stuff!' She also suggests to the author that the twins should have a pet (a dog or a bird) in the next one.'

The 11 yr old says he 'thought the book was gripping, that he didn't know what was going to happen next and he liked the ending which left some things unanswered - overall a great story and he would be interested in reading more from the same author'.

Thanks again, Sarah :)

I'm currently reading a chapter each night with my two children (ages 6 and 11). I'm finding it slightly annoying and not very well written but the children are enjoying it so far and look forward to hearing what happens next.

I'll post again when we've finished.

Received the book and my 8yr old dd is enjoying it so far. She keeps telling me little snippets of it but will give a full update when she has finished it.

received the book thank you. interesting from the start

My 9 year old granddaughter loves this book. The Egyptian theme fits in with school work and she is truly enthralled with it. She loves a mystery and this fits the bill all round. Thank you once again Mumsnet.

Received this last week and my daughter was all over it when she saw it on the table. It's writing style is completely different and she is so excited that there is an Egyptian theme. So far it's all positive but will write again when she is further in.