Mummies! Me-oh-my!

 Oh there's witches, and vampires,

Big monsters that go bump in the night,

Werewolves are howling,

So many creepy creatures are out tonight!

Mummies are mumbling incomprehensibly

Wrapped in their bandages

These faceless creatures are out for a night of fright!
-Fawn-

I love that there are tons of legends, cultures, and folk lore that you can look into, and teach about around Halloween.  This does greatly depend on the age of the child you're talking to.  As I've grown I love looking into and learning more about different cultures and learning about the origins of all these eerie curiosities. If you celebrate Halloween or want to look into different cultures or myths there are countless lessons and books you can focus on, but for today I'm going to share just about Mummies.

Let's start with a fun fictional picture book that's great for the little ones and a "spooky" story time.
Where's My Mummy?


Written by Carolyn Crimi
Illustrated by John Manders

The title is such a cute play on words and you know that is the complete theme of the book where could mommy be?  I like that they give you the intro to why mom is missing, they are playing a game of hide and and "shriek" and little mummy starts searching for Mama Mummy.  Where do mummies hide? Well you'll have to look in the deep, dark woods, and the cave, and the slithery swamp, and all over the place.  Little Mummy isn't afraid of these places or the creatures that live in them, he's brave when the blob comes out, and even for Drac, but what creature does give him a scare and make him yell for his mom?  You'll have to read and find out the cute thing that does scare him.
This cute story is a lot of fun to read with your little ones.  I love the sounds and how you can slow down the words and make it nice and spooky then chime in (or have your child help you read) "I'm not scared!" in a big brave voice.  I think this repeating of "I'm not scared!" is empowering and when the little mummy does get scared it's silly and yet Mom is right there.  A very sweet story.
The illustrations are playful.  They are dark and suspenseful when you first get to a new place to look for Mummy, but when the monster that was in that section is revealed it's colorful and funny. I love the details, and emotions in the illustrations.  Your children will be laughing throughout Where's My Mummy? as they watch the bedtime routine for all the spooky characters.

Skeleton Meets the Mummy


Written by Steve Metzger
Illustrated by Aaron Zenz

Sammy is a skeleton who is excited about going out to get candy with his friend Derek, but before he meets up with his friend and has some fun he has to take soup to his grandma, and walk through the dark forest all alone.  Each noise startles him and he tries to calm his nerves "it's only a bat, a tree, or the wind," but then he's sure something is following him! Sure enough there's a mummy behind him!
What kid (or adult) isn't afraid of walking through the woods at night?  At 30 I can still relate to this book!  That's a bit embarrassing to admit! But it's true.
Sammy runs from the mummy at first but then decides to confront his fear and unravel the mummy.  Who can the mummy be?  Of course the mummy isn't real, and the Metzger ends the book on a funny note with a joke.
This is a great way to tell kids that it's OK to be afraid of something, and you can comfort them with some information like how even some adults are afraid of the dark and that science says that this fear is linked with have a good creative imagination!  You can take time to talk about what they may be fearful of and let them know that that's normal.
The exaggerated facial expression are the focal point of Aaron's illustrations.  With colorful and simple silhouettes all the focus is on how Sammy is feeling.


Now as children get older or question about mummies there are many interesting books you can use to teach the history of mummies and about real mummies!

In my searching for mummy stories of both fiction and nonfiction I came across this awesome chapter book duo:
The Magic Tree House:
Mummies in the Morning (fictional)
Research Guide: Mummies and Pyramids (a nonfiction companion to Mummies in the Morning)

Written by Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrated by Sal Murdocca

I did not read Mummies in the Morning but I did check out Mummies and Pyramids.  I love how this is a research guide to take kids through how the Osbornes found information to use in their story.  This is a fun and easy way to learn a lot of information about ancient Egypt and all about mummies. They included about everyday life, religion, tomb treasures and robbers.  I found the part about the funerals fascinating and learned a lot there that I didn't back in 6th grade when we studied Egypt.  There are black and white illustrations on every page which will help not only with the point of the text but also to keep readers focused.  I loved studying the art and reading the side notes.

Egyptian Mummies a pop-up book


Written by Milbry Polk
Illustrated by Roger Stewart
Paper-engineered by Jose R. Seminario
Art direction by Jim Deesing

Obviously since this is a pop-up book it's interactive.  Not only are there pictures popping out of the pages but there are little flaps to reveal more information or illustrations.  We often think of pop - up books for small children but this one has small print and a lot of great detailed information packed in it's 8 pages.  This is not a board book for babies and toddlers as it can easily be damaged, no this is aimed for children 7 and older.  Did you know it took at lease 15 days to wrap the body?  This fact along with many other around why Egyptian's preserved their deceased in such a way and how they did it are in these pages.  Take time to check out this fun learning book.  Want to see more of Egypt and the pyramids and tombs?  Check out Egypt Cradle of civilization

Want to move past Egypt and learn about all sorts of Mummies all over the world and how researchers have learned to learn from them without destroying them?
Outside and Inside Mummies


by Sandra Markle

Sandra dives deep into the science of studying mummies.  She tells how the way people have studied these preserved bodies have changed over the years, what we are still learning today and why people want to study these old bodies.  I love how Markle uses photographs to show real mummified bodies and xray images showing not only bones but also inside the body to see lungs and the packages they stuffed inside the body before wrapping.  This is an intense and in depth book that if for those older children who really want to know more, or are studying mummies or love science and medical fields.
A fun science experiment or project for all ages is at the end of the book: Make your own mummy!  (you use an apple!) but it's awesome to give kids a hands on project to go with history and science.


Some other nonfiction Mummy books that are on my list to check out are:


I hope you found these books fun or interesting as I have.  Wrap up your mummy filled week with some mummy movies:


Not sure what to be this year for Halloween?  Why not a mummy?