Books in English on hieroglyphic writing include Sir Alan Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, 3rd ed., rev. (1957, reprinted 1988), still useful, with a list of hieroglyphs from the Middle Kingdom; Werner Forman and Stephen Quirke, Hieroglyphs and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt (1996), a richly photographed work that puts the sources into context; James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (2000), which has become a standard text; and Boyo Ockinga, A Concise Grammar of Middle Egyptian, 2nd rev. ed., revised and expanded by Hellmut Brunner (2005).
Shorter introductions to the hieroglyphic writing system and Egyptian grammar can be found in W.V. Davies, Egyptian Hieroglyphs (1987); Henry George Fischer, Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Hieroglyphs, 4th ed. (1999); Mark Collier and Bill Manley, How to Read Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself, rev. ed. (2003); and Karl-Theodor Zauzich, Hieroglyphs Without Mystery, 6th ed., translated by Ann Macy Roth (2004; first published in German, 1980).