Mummies in the Morning by Mary Pope Osborne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The reason I decided to read a few of the Magic Tree House books was that, while my middle school students were preparing for a Brain Bowl competition, there was a question that came up, asking for the author of two of the books. Whereas I had never heard of them, the kids knew right away and could even name MANY of the other books in the series, even though they had probably read them 5 or 6 years ago. I figured that was a good recommendation.
Caveat: I don't read a lot of books for this age group: chapter books for moderately proficient lower middle grade kids.
The advantages of this book are several. It is the right length for a good reader to read in a short enough time that the story hangs together. It has enough facts and details to whet the appetite of interested students to learn more. It has enough suspense to keep the kids reading, but not so much as to make them anxious.
I think it is also clever psychologically. The boy is the older of the two siblings, so he is cast in a slightly protective role. But the girl is an active participant in the story, not just along for gender balance. I think this helps the book appeal to both boys and girls.
I actually prefer books for slightly older kids, ones that tackle more complex issues and matters of character, so I am not quite a fair reviewer of this kind of book. But I am impressed that my students, who are older, remember them so fondly.
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