Cleopatra’s Amulet by Lindsay Galvin – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Egyptian gods, royalty, family values.
Children’s book title: Cleopatra’s Amulet.
Children’s author: Lindsay Galvin.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Chicken House.
ISBN: 9781917171021.
Recommended for children aged: 9+.
First published: September 2026.
This children’s book is ideal for: readers who enjoy a fictional take on historical events or an exciting adventure set in a different time.
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Our review:
Princess Cleopatra is very privileged because, as the daughter of the pharaoh, her life has been charmed since birth. Known as the Princess of Cats, she sees her world turn on its head during celebrations for the festival of the goddess Bastet. Just after she and her sister, Berenike, are given gifts of a popular board game and cat-related jewellery by the pharaoh, the royal procession is attacked, her father is kidnapped in the chaos, and she is bundled away to safety by her older sister and a Roman banking official recently arrived in Alexandria.
Along with her newly made friend, a Roman scribe named Fabius, Cleopatra is determined to find out where her father has been taken and who is responsible for their situation. As she begins to absorb what has happened, the two gifts start to react to her presence. By the time her secretive journey ends, her suspicions about the banker have escalated, and when her life is threatened, she has to face the fact that he couldn’t have worked alone. Cleopatra is a god on earth and so isn’t used to being alone, but with the help of Berenike’s senet game, her cat amulet, and Fabius, she begins to find her own inner strength. But can she face the horrors and treachery awaiting her in the heart of her land’s ancient heritage?
Our verdict:
Once again, the author has combined fact and fiction to write an exciting, jeopardy-filled adventure featuring universally known historical figures. Ancient Egypt is the setting for a tale of intrigue and betrayal with the influences of a number of the more well-known gods and goddesses whose worship shapes all aspects of everyday life. There is more scope for a fictional storyline here as factual information about Cleopatra’s early life is limited, but there is never any feeling of this being fanciful as long as the reader regards the Egyptian beliefs as entirely factual.
The extra information at the end of the book enables readers to play a game of senet as well as, purely hypothetically, mummify someone!
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- A lot of the landscape mentioned here is still familiar in the present day. Which modern buildings and landmarks do you think will still be recognisable even hundreds of years in the future?
- Cleopatra was attending the festival of Bastet at the beginning of the story. In the style of Egyptian artwork, design a poster advertising these celebrations.
- The senet game was designed around popular Egyptian gods. If you were to make your own set of stones, what would you have them represent?
- When you are reading a historical novel, how helpful do you find the research notes usually included at the back of the book?
- If you were to write a story based in the past, would you prefer to set it a very long time ago where there is less information available or closer to the present day when there will be far more research, meaning your story will be more accurate?
Many thanks to Chicken House for the review copy.
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