Where's My Mummy?
A little baby mummy plays hide-and-seek instead of going to bed, meeting various characters like ghosts and vampires along the way. It is a bedtime story wrapped in a Halloween theme, featuring a clever pun in the title.
Where's My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi is estimated to take about 6 minutes to read aloud (427 words, about 2 sentences a page), and it lands best with children aged 3-5.
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- Estimated read-aloud time
- about 6 minutesEstimated read-aloud time
- Word count
- 427Counted words
- Sentences per page
- 2Sentences per page
- Re-read tolerance
- 4/5repeat friendly
- Vocabulary level
- 2/5everyday words
- Best for
- Ages 3-5Our editorial fit
Our review
This is a great choice for parents looking for a bedtime story that has a seasonal feel without being too scary. The story follows a pattern of hide-and-seek that many preschoolers enjoy.
The title's pun is a hit with four-year-olds once they finally "get" it. It’s a charming way to handle the concept of bedtime resistance in a playful, lighthearted way.
Before you buy it
While the tone is affectionate, the setting is a dark graveyard at night. You might want to preview it first if your child is already uneasy about the dark.
Themes
- Halloween
- bedtime
- hide-and-seek
- monsters
- mothers
Books like Where's My Mummy?
Matched by refrain, density, length, and listener—not just the subject.
Skeleton Hiccupsabout 3.5 minutes estimated · 5/5 re-read
Go Away, Big Green Monster!about 3 minutes estimated · 5/5 re-read
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anythingabout 9 minutes estimated · 5/5 re-read
Owl Babiesabout 5 minutes estimated · 5/5 re-read
Big Pumpkinabout 8.5 minutes estimated · 5/5 re-read
Questions parents ask
How long does it take to read Where's My Mummy? aloud?
About 6 minutes at an unhurried pace, including a standard allowance for page turns, pictures and participation, from a word count of 427. Stopping for a longer conversation on every page will add more time.
What age is Where's My Mummy? actually for?
Ages 3-5 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 2 sentences a page and vocabulary at 2 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
Does Where's My Mummy? survive being read on repeat?
Yes. It survives a fortnight of nightly repeats, which is the real test.
Is Where's My Mummy? a good book for a child who will not sit still?
It helps that it rhymes, and it has a refrain a child can join in with, and it asks the child questions to answer out loud. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.
Will my child memorise Where's My Mummy??
Probably, and fast. The book leans on a repeated refrain, and at 4 out of 5 for re-read tolerance it survives the nightly repeats that get a book memorised. Expect your child to chant the pattern back before they can actually read.
Can a beginning reader read Where's My Mummy? on their own?
It is closer than most picture books. With 2 sentences a page and plain vocabulary (2 out of 5), a confident early reader can attempt it, though it is written to be read aloud first.
What themes does Where's My Mummy? cover?
We tag it with Halloween, bedtime, hide-and-seek, monsters and mothers. Those are the threads that actually run through the book, not just the ones on the cover, which is how it earns its place on our themed lists rather than a keyword match.
