A Day at Çatalhöyük

This book is an interactive fairy tale where the world's first archaeologist, Babylonian King Nabonidus, enters a time tunnel in his dream and travels back to the Neolithic Age to explore life in Çatalhöyük. Starting with the Çatalhöyük wall painting—the first artwork featured in the Tracing Heritage in Konya book—this adventure, written by Idil Bilgin, follows Nabonidus as he seeks answers to the intriguing questions posed by Whopper the Bear. Originally published in Turkish with a first print run of 2,000 copies in July 2023, the book was released in English in June 2025. It aims to inspire children to learn with curiosity and imagination, acquire knowledge through play, understand the importance of cultural heritage, and connect with the past, culture, and art. In addition, we have introduced the "A Day at Çatalhöyük: Tale-based Diorama Workshop” as a complementary companion to the book to help children visualize everyday life in the Neolithic Age, express their imaginations through visual art, and interact with it.

Regarding the age range of the book being 7-99, here's a great interpretation from the ÇEKÜL Foundation:
A Day at Çatalhöyük: Time Travel with the World's First Archaeologist is a rather "dynamic" book. In addition to telling its story, it asks questions to the reader, provides surprises and hidden information, and assigns tasks. As a result, child readers who suddenly find themselves in the Neolithic Age learn while maintaining their interest and exploring. Adult readers, on the other hand, rediscover the joy of playing games while contemplating the foundations of civilization. (Source: ÇEKÜL Foundation)

(Note: For detailed information about the complementary workshop "A Day at Çatalhöyük" please visit the link.

This interactive historical fiction book is written at a Lexile level of 500L–700L and its language level suitability by age group is as follows:

Age Range - Grade - Suitability

8–9 years - 3rd grade - Suitable, more effective with guidance

9–10 years - 4th grade - Fully suitable

10–11 years - 5th grade - Easily readable

11–12 years - 6th grade - A short and enjoyable book for fast readers