Mummies in the Morning
From Magic Tree House
Mummies in the Morning is the third book in the Magic Tree House series. It was written by Mary Pope Osborne and illusrated by Sal Murdocca. It has sixty-five pages and ten chapters. It was published and released in 1993 It was re-released by Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with Random House Inc. in 1996. It was printed in the United States. It was the first book in the series to have two different covers. The book is preceded by The Knight at Dawn and succeded by Pirates Past Noon.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Off to Egypt
As the book starts off, Jack and Annie are standing by the tree house. Jack hears a strange noise, but Annie hears nothing. The two climb into the tree house and look through the books. Annie finds a book about Ancient Egypt, and Jack wishes them there. Just as the tree house is working its magic, a black cat appears on a limb outside.
[edit] Into the pyramid
The tree house appears perched on a palm tree in the desert. Outside a long line of Egyptians carrying a casket marches toward a large pyramid in the distance. Jack uses the book to research the parade of people. Then the kids see the black cat from before. They chase it all the way to the pyramid. They enter it and use a map to find out where the burial chambers are. When they are done they walk down a hallway. After a while, they hear a scream. Then a ghost passes by and drops a rod with a metal dog on top. Jack looks it up in the book, but is stunned when the ghost appears right in front of him. The ghost is actually a beautiful Egyptain queen named Hutepi. She asks Jack and Annie to help her find the Book of the Dead so that she can go to the afterlife. Jack and Annie try to decode a message on the nearby wall for the ghost queen and are successful. They follow the ghost down the hallway, up some stairs, and into a cold, drafty room. Here the ghost disappears. They find a boat on the other side of the room and grab a jar out of it. Then they grab a scroll out of the jar. It is the Book of the Dead. They walk through a door and into a room with only a long golden box in it. The kids look into the box and are stunned to see a real mummy. Annie runs off in discust. Jack sets the Book of the Dead on the box and backs out of the room. He continues out the boat room and down the stairs. He turns into the hallway and tries to find his sister. He hears her voice, but starts walking in the wrong direction. He turns and heads in the other direction. He walks back up the stairs and into the room with the boat. He notices an open door that he didn't notice before. He enters the room, which is at the top of a staircase exactly like the room he had just come up. He walks down the stairs and enters a hallway that also looks like the previous one. Jack finds Annie, who had gotten lost, and they turn to go back up the stairs. Just as they do, the doors close and the torches go out. They walk down the hallway looking for secret doors, but instead end up right back where they started.
[edit] Getting out
They hear a meow and see the black cat from before. They follow it all the way to the outside of the pyramid. The cat then runs off and disappears into the waves of heat in the distance. The kids go back to the tree house and grab the Pennsylvania book. Jack turns and sees the queen in her boat floating through the air on her way to the Afterlife. The Jack points to the book and wishes them home.
[edit] Back home
When they got back, they organized the books in the tree house. While doing this, they discover an "M" in the floor. Jack touched the M and felt a tingling in his body. Leaves started to blow. The kids leave the tree house and go home. When they arrive, their mom is making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
[edit] Contents
- Meow! (1)
- Oh, Man. Mummies! (9)
- It's Alive! (17)
- Back from the Dead (21)
- The Ghost-Queen (26)
- The Writing on the Wall (31)
- The Scroll (37)
- The Mummy (44)
- Follow the Leader (51)
- Another Clue (60)
[edit] Characters
[edit] Audio Book
Main article: Mummies in the Morning (audio)
Mummies in the Morning has been put onto a compact disk for people who would rather listen to the story than read it.
[edit] Research Guide
Main article: Mummies and Pyramids
The non-fiction companion to Mummies in the Morning is the research guide Mummies and Pyramids. It was written by Mary Pope Osborne and Will Osborne and was illustrated by Sal Murdocca. It was published and released in 2001.
[edit] Critical Reception
The book was accepted with mostly positive reception. Many people did and still declare it a most read for first chapter book readers. The book is now in almost every library that has children's books in the nation.
