Working Mummies

Punny, spooky look at moms all wrapped up in their jobs.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Working Mummies is a funny, punny look at a various jobs done by working moms -- who happen to be mummies. Creature-filled color spreads show a mummy doctor who gives "coffin syrup" to ghosts "to soothe their frightful groans." A mummy waitress serves skeletons "Scream of Wheat" and wishes customers "Bone appetit!" And so on in clever verse filled with spooky wordplay. The emphasis is on comedy, so the cartoony illustrations shouldn't be too scary for little ones. But there are one-eyed creatures, a platter of eyeballs, drooling fangs, detached monster heads, haunted houses and laboratories, and a mummy librarian's collection of wriggling book worms.
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What's the Story?
This fun rundown of female mummy occupations is written in verse and features colorful, spooky spreads showing mummy moms at work: A pet store manicurist files the claws of yowling cats, a beautician curls werewolves' hair, a dentist puts fillings in vampires' fangs, etc. Some work the \"graveyard shift,\" natch. And when they get home from work, they hug their \"boys and ghouls.\"
Is It Any Good?
Clever verse and fun wordplay make WORKING MUMMIES a great read-aloud. And lively, colorfully gruesome, cartoon-like spreads give kids lots of monsters, werewolves, vampires, spooks, skeletons, bats, goblins, and bubbling potions to look at. More silly than scary, it reassuringly winds up with a mummy coming home to her kids after work, with the daddy mummy busy cooking dinner.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about all the different kids of jobs real moms have. Do you know what your mom does all day?
A lot of books and movies that come out around Halloween are are funny and scary. Why is that a good combination?
How much to you know about mummies? Have you been to a museum and seen an Egyptian mummy?
Book Details
- Author: Joan Horton
- Illustrator: Drazen Kozjan
- Genre: Holiday
- Topics: Holidays, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Publication date: July 17, 2012
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 3 - 8
- Number of pages: 32
- Available on: Hardback
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
Our Editors Recommend
For kids who love Scary stuff
Themes & Topics
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