Using Ms. Frizzle as a guide, Jennie Beck recently led children on a learning trip through ancient Egypt at the Aiken County Library.

"We did this about four years ago. Home-schoolers were studying ancient Egypt," said Ms. Beck, the children's librarian.

Taking questions from the Magic School Bus book Ms. Frizzle's Adventures in Ancient Egypt, Ms. Beck played a trivia game with the children gathered for the event. She divided them into two teams.

Each team took turns answering questions, such as: Were all pharaohs male? (The answer is no.) Did ancient Egyptians use two types of hieroglyphics? (Yes; one was for everyday use, the other for governmental use.)

After the game, players from each team got to pick a book to take home. The activity wound down with players from each team getting wrapped like mummies.

Aidan Frank, a second-grader at St. Mary's School, loves mummies, so he jumped at the chance to turn his younger sister, Sophia, into one by wrapping her in toilet paper.

Janet Hanger said the event fit in well with her daughters' home-school studies.

"We are studying ancient Egypt," she said as she watched 8-year-old Clara become a mummy at the hands of her younger brother, Michael, 5, sister, Lauren, 7, and Sharmila Samuel, a Chukker Creek Elementary School fourth-grader.

There were lots of giggles as toilet paper was strewn all over the library's meeting room.

"This was really fun," Sharmila said.

Reach Charmain Z. Brackett at czbrackett@hotmail.com.