You certainly discover more about your country as you move from wealthy households to temples before finally ending up leading a life of hard labour. The humorous cartoon-style illustrations and the narrative approach encourage readers to get emotionally involved with the characters, aiding their understanding of what life would have been like being a Sumerian slave. Informative captions, a complete glossary and an index make this title an ideal introduction to the conventions of non-fiction texts for young readers. It fits into KS2 History and is an ideal text for the shared and guided reading for Key Stage 2 pupils within the framework of the National Literacy Strategy. It also helps to achieve the goals of the Scottish Standard Curriculum 5-14.