Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House, Book 3) (by Mary Pope Osborne)

Eight-year-old Jack and seven-year-old Annie are set for their third adventure when they find a book on pyramids in the magic treehouse. They soon land in the desert of Ancient Egypt, where they witness an Egyptian funeral procession carrying a sarcophagus on its way to a pyramid.

Then it disappears, and Jack and Annie follow a mysterious black cat to the burial chamber. Spooky shadows and strange cries lead them to a mummy queen, a ghost who needs help finding the Book of the Dead. The two adventurers follow hieroglyphic clues of stairs, boat, jug, and folded cloth to uncover the Book of the Dead and return it to Queen Hutepi.

Mary Pope Osborne has the magic formula for creating suspense and intrigue without being too scary. The page-turning plot is episodic; each chapter moves quickly from pyramids, mirages, and black cats to tomb robbers, mummies, and false passages.

Jack reads from his book and records notes -- a clever device that gives kids just enough background on unfamiliar facts and terms of ancient Egypt, such as sarcophagi and hieroglyphs, to understand the story line. Not a thread is left untied; just when it seems the mystery is complete, Annie gets lost in a false passage. Suspense builds, as the two do-gooders have to crack codes to complete their mission.