Book Reviews and More: Your Mummy is a Nose Picker - Gordon Korman

Your Mummy is a Nose Picker

Nose Pickers from Outer Space Book 3

L.A.F. Books

Gordon Korman

Bictor Vaccaro (Illustrator)

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN 9780786814466

ISBN 0786814462

Your Mummy is a Nose Picker - Gordon Korman - Nose Pickers from Outer Space Book 3

This book was originally published in 2000, with four different editions publishing that year under a variety of imprints. It is the third in a series of 4 and there is a box set edition available called “The Ultimate Nose Pickers Collection”. My introduction to Korman’s works was the 39 Clues back in 2009. Since then I have read over 80 of his books including this volume, a few of them more than once. I set the goal of reading all his books about 2020. I am now two thirds of the way thorough his canon, I have completed all the stand alone books and am now just working my way through the remaining series. I have read at least 1 from every series. Not counting omnibus editions I believe that as of the summer of 2025 Korman has published 109 books. With each that I read I am entertained and often challenged. And I can state I am enjoying this series way more than I expected. My son, who is 17 often, reads these books to me or with me, and he still loves them.

The description of this volume states:

“Back in time with the Nose Picker from Outer Space I pushed the mummy case door open and felt through the loose dirt until my hand reached the casket next to mine. I knocked. “Stan?”

His muffled voice was incredulous. “Devin?”

“I can slip my hand into your coffin.” This was a sentence most fourth graders never have a chance to use. “But you’re going to have to tell me what to do.”

Yes, it was true. In order to get out of this pickle, I would have to break one of the oldest and most precious rules of coolness—the classic Rule 5: You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose. But you can’t pick your friend’s nose.”

About the author we are informed:

“Gordon Korman is the author of over thirty books for children. Including Nose

Pickers from Outer Space, Planet of the Nose Pickers, and The 6th Grade Nickname Game, which was selected as one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books of the year. Gordon lives with his family on Long Island.”

About the illustrator:

“Victor Vaccaro's artwork has appeared in Nose Pickers from Outer Space and Planet of the Nose Pickers. He also lives with his family on Long Island.”

I highlighted a few passages that were particularly funny, some of them are:

“Tanner was our class bigmouth. But he was wrong on four counts. First, Stan wasn't a kid; he was a 147-year-old alien. Second, Pan wasn’t a town in Illinois; it was a planet in outer space.

People from Pan are called Pants. Their president is the Grand Pant. His assistants are the Under-Pants. Their planet orbits a star in the constellation of the Big Zipper. It may sound like a comedy routine, but it’s one hundred percent true. Stan even took me there once. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“I’d better explain how all this was even possible. When Pants come to Earth, they pose as normal humans. But since they have nose computers, they're so fantastic at their Earth jobs that a lot of them become famous. Other Pants living on Earth include Michael Jordan, Mark McGwire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Regis Philbin, and two of the four Teletubbies.”

“Everybody has heard of the three Great Pyramids of Giza. But not a lot of people know about the massive Trump pyramid, which is larger than all the others combined. That was where we were taken to face our punishment for the crime of spying against the Egyptian Empire.”

I hope those quotes give you a feel for the humour in this series. The chapters in this volume are:

1 The Schnoz-aholic

2 A Model Parent

3 The Out-of-Towners

4 Cuffs Will Roll

5 Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

6 Back in Time

7 Spittoon

8 The Not-So-Great Pyramids

9 Mum’s the Word

10 Freak Show

11 The Class Jackal

12 The Solar Sneeze

13 The Biggest Nose Picker in History

14 The Co-Pharaohs Are ln

15 Spies

16 Mummification

17 A Ticklish Situation

18 The Suspenders

19 Escaping by a Nose

20 The Real Future

I was surprised by the number of famous people whose success was attributed to their being alien travel testers. Several are named above, but the best was Cindy Crawford’s appearance. They have to travel back in time to save the reputation of Earth as a place that can really make an alien from Pants sneeze. But things do not go as planned and the Smarty-Pants get left behind which caused no end of troubles. Can Devin and Stan put it right or is the course of history changed forever. You will get wrapped up in this tale. It is a story young readers will love, even reluctant readers will pick up this story.

I will be honest the title of this book and series had almost no appeal to me, but after the first one I know I was in for a really fun series! This third book took me by surprise, even more fun than books 1 and 2. I laughed out loud, I was surprised by so many twists. I was amused and had a smile throughout the reading of this book. If the remaining volume in this series are as good as the first 3 will great fun to read it. A tale you will find yourself wrapped up in.

A great pity this one is out of print!

Books by Gordon Korman:

MacDonald Hall Series:

This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (1978)

Go Jump in the Pool (1979)

Beware the Fish! (1980)

The Wizzle War (1982)

(formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle)

The Zucchini Warriors (1988)

Light’s Camera, Disaster (1991)

(aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)

The Jokes on Us (1995)