Mummies in the Morning

Magic Tree House #3

by Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca (Illustrator)

Jack and Annie don't need another mummy. But that's what they get when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to ancient Egypt. There they meet a long-dead queen who needs their help. Will Jack and Annie be able to solve the puzzle, or will they end up as mummies themselves?

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Chapter Books, Adventure, Middle Grade

65 pages, Paperback

First published August 24, 1993

About the author

Mary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.

Reviews

[Jesse (JesseTheReader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*potential five star rating for nostalgic reasons haha*

This was the book in the magic tree house series that I remember the most from my childhood. I remember it being the one that sparked my interest in checking out the series. I don't think I even realized it was apart of a series when I first read it so I didn't have much of the previous books to go off of. This one has a solid plot, a few frightening twists, and an incredibly comforting ending.

[Sonja Rosa Lisa ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Philipp und Anne reisen mit dem magischen Baumhaus zurück ins alte Ägypten. Dort können sie einer Mumie, einer früheren Königin, bei der Suche nach dem Totenbuch helfen.
Ein spannendes Thema, kindgerecht beschrieben. Es ist der dritte Band der Reihe, und da es hier auch um ein weiteres Rätsel geht, das bereits in den zwei Vorgängern Thema war, empfiehlt es sich, die Bücher der Reihe nach zu lesen.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update 2023: This series is still working for me! I think I’m really interested in who M is so I’m going to continue working my way through the series slowly. Honestly, I’m surprised about how well some of these are holding up after having been published in the 90s!

This was another cute installment in the Magic Tree House series which takes place in ancient Egypt and I feel love any book with Egyptian themes. I definitely was intrigued by the mummy ghost and why she needed their help. Once again we also see the appearance of something that belongs to "M" so I'm hoping that in the next few installments we figure out who that is. I'll be doing a full review of this one soon.

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book for my toddler's bedtime. I'm enjoying this series for the first time with my kid. I noticed there's also a graphic novel version too as well as audiobooks!

This story followed siblings Jack and Annie. Since they found the tree house full of books that can magically take them to time travel, they have been loving it. Book 1 time travel back to the time of dinosaurs. Book 2 time travel back to the time of Knights. This time Jack picked his favorite place to visit, the time of mummies! We got to explore inside of the pyramid and study the hieroglyphs. We even met a mummy who was Queen of the Nile. We learned about false passages made to distract tomb robbers in the pyramids.

Egypt history is fascinating! I liked the bit about pyramids and how it was built from long ago at the end of the story. This story was not as thrilling as the previous books but it was good nonetheless.

I borrowed this ebook from Cloud Library App.

[Nathaniel Hardman · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are like single bites of Twinkie - fluffy and insubsantial, and you hardly notice them go down. Because of that, I haven't bothered with reviews for the first two, but I'm feeling the need to point something out now with the third. This was an issue with the first two, but it's becoming increasingly egregious with this one: Osborne is kind of out-of-control with her sentence fragments.

Look at this two-page stretch as an example:


I count seven sentence fragments in this short passage:

All the way through the winding hallway.
Down, down, down.
And another...
Over the sand.
Like a bird's nest.
Then Jack.
The same sound they had heard in the pyramid.

Now, to be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with using the occasional fragment. But Osborne's fragments aren't occasional; they're practically the rule.

It reminds me of this scene from Finding Forrester when they're discussing starting sentences with conjunctions; you can do it sometimes to make something stand out, but don't do it too much or your writing will look sloppy and amateur.

Anyway, it's an okay book in an okay series, even if they're all carbon-copy duplicates; they're all fine little Twinkie bites. But those sentence fragments are starting to annoy. I may have to switch to Ho-Ho's.

(Review first appeared on my website here.)

[graceee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just read this with my little brother. I used to LOVE these books!! I remember why. This was so fun to see him as invested as I was 😂

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an adventure book. My favorite part is when the torches went out and the doors shut. And the black cat had to lead them out. It took me THREE MINUTES to read this book. I read it at school. It seemed like three minutes, because it was a really short book. They just went to the pyramid and went into a sloping hallway and then it got flat and someone passed by. And then they met this ghost queen. And then they had to show her the way to get to the next life. Then Annie went down to a false passageway and then this black cat had to show them the way out.

I like Magic Tree House books. That's it, please. Don't have my brain think anymore.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a very quick read. I really like the Ancient Egypt aspect of this book and the fact that there was hieroglyphics all over the pyramid. I was skiiming this book and it made me realize how intriguing it can be to read this series. This series always makes me curious about what will happen next.
One of the parts that stood out to me was when the ghost queen was gone after they found the ancient book.
Even though this is a childrens book, it still has that element of surprise, suspense and adventure.
I would have to agree with all of my other books in this series about how it was an okay read to me as a high-schooler.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year old son, Daniel, says, "I wish I could give it 10 stars! It's the best book ever!".

[Shadyside Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a creepy one! Mummies, ghosts, and a black cat! Jack and Annie risked it big time traveling so far back in time!

[Pallavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

****4.0****

This one had some interesting facts that even I had not known. Here Jack and Annie are visiting Egypt and especially Pyramids. It was a very interesting read.

Initially I thought that my kid might not digest so much of information on Egypt, Pyramids, Mummies etc but he took it in very well and looks like he already knew few things about mummies through TV shows 👍

Happy Reading!!

[Cameron Chaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this one a month ago on my last day of my tutoring job but forgot to post a review. I read this as a kid but barely remembered it. Honestly, this was a really good little book. Reading this as an adult, I liked it a lot more than the previous two books. The writing seemed to flow smoother.

FINAL VERDICT: 4 stars

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars ⭐️
The nostalgia was real! This series is what made me fall in love with reading 🥺

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, the cover is kind of scary looking, in my opinion. Also, in the book there was a rather gruesome description of a mummy which I thought went above the target age of the book.

Jack and Annie travel to Egypt, go inside an pyramid and meet a ghost queen. They help her find her way to the afterlife. I wasn't crazy about them meeting a ghost, since this book is supposed to teach history, but oh well.

Hate the way the author uses sentence fragments constantly. Is annoying.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I liked this book because it was very interesting and super creative." - Eva, 8 years old

[Mr. Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun way to get kids exposed to ancient Egypt. Lots of good vocabulary words too: mirage, hieroglyphics, scepter, etc. (Jack’s a wuss).

[Elizabeth Valadez · Rating 5 out of 5]

eloina and i just read it at the mocha nut. so good😭

[lily (taylor’s version)🇵🇸 · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this back in first grade and absolutely loved it. i had bought a copy of it so i could read it whenever i wanted. this was always my favorite Magic Treehouse book, and i still find myself sitting next to the bookcase rereading it like i’m six years old again. it brings back so much nostalgia. definitely a 5/5 children’s book.

[Rykki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in the series, and I have to say it's an improvement over the other two, but not much. The story isn't as flat and bland as the previous two. They discover hieroglyphics and learn about translating them. They solve a small puzzle. All-in-all I think my five-year-old would be more interested in this one than the last two, so I might have to try reading it with him. I think my almost-three-year-old would probably really enjoy this one because it will give him a whole new place to play pretend. To him it's like Backyardigans in book form.

This story actually had a little bit more memorable stuff, but it might be a little scarier for timid kids. Nothing seems to scare my kids so I'm not too worried about that one. The "adventure" is actually a bit more of an adventure as they face a ghost and have a puzzle to solve, then get stuck in one of the traps in the tomb. It's an improvement on the other books, that's for sure.

On a history level it's still pretty vague, but it's got more to offer than the previous two books. They give an understanding that mummies are the burial process as well as some information about tombs and all that. I think this is perhaps the most educational of the series thus far.

[Brandon Loehrke · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Mummmies in the Morning" was an okay book in this series. It was not my favorite one. This book starts off when Jack and Annie are in the treehouse and pick a book about Ancient Egypt. Right as they are about to start their adventure a black cat appears in the treehouse. When they get to the pyramid in Egypt the black cat takes them inside the pyramid. Inside they find a mummy who needs the Book of the Dead so she can go to her next life. Jack and Anne find the book and the magic septer and give it to the mummy. The black cat then leads them out of the pyramid and they arrive back home.

The main characters in the book are Jack and Annie. Jack and Annie are siblings. This is the third adventure they have been on togeather. There is also a mummy in this story. The mummy gets help from Jack and Annie.

The setting of the story starts off in the magic treehouse in Frog Creek and then moves to a pyramid in Egypt. The time period is during Ancient times.

The theme of this book I beleive is helping others. Jack and Annie help the mummy find the Book of the Dead so she can rest in peace. It shows children that it is good to help others.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is just starting to read chapter books. This book is fun to read and also teaches children a good lesson.

[Charity (Booktrovert Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another adventure for your characters Jack and Annie in the Magic Tree House.

BLOG ⟫ INSTAGRAM ⟫

So basically, Jack and Annie went back in time to Egypt through the Magic Tree House. They arrived as a funeral was happening and they followed that into the pyramid. Why? Because they are hoping to see a mummy. As they were navigating the tunnels, they met an Egyptian spirit that is asking them to set her free. So, they go on that adventure and get close to being stuck in the tunnels forever.

Really cute and not overly complicated to read. They find out more about the mysterious M who could be the owner of the Magic Tree House.

[Ericka Clou · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not feeling the ghosts. Time hopping to see real things is one thing. Time hopping to see fake things is another.

[Lauren Talley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Osborne does a good job of mixing a kid oriented history with a whimsical plot, although I wish the historical parts were a little less vague. Overall though this was a big improvement from the first two books that were a bit lackluster. I did wish that the ghost "Queen of the Nile" Hutepi had been a little more historically accurate (she made up the name when she could have grounded the book to an actual historical figure). I am a bit biased in my review as I recall originally reading this as a kid and it sparking an interest in ancient Egypt, so I do have fond memories of this book.

[olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ewww the way they described the mummy and then showed a picture of it. Also this book was weirdddddd. It was talking about the afterlife and underworld and lakes of fire and punishment. Not to mention children just running through a pyramid chasing a mummy

[Kaytlyn Singell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Magic Tree House books are always a nice nostalgic read

[skelevvhore]

I read these at work when I’m hiding in the kids section pt 3 💀

[Dasha Slepenkina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

[Greer Leleux]

Jack and Annie back at it again

[Kami Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hieroglyphs, Ghost-Queen Hutepi, and a helpful Egyptian cat? It's been magic since the beginning, but this just kicked it up a notch.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient Egypt, mummies, ghosts. No notes. 10/10