Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Time Warp Trio
Did you know that our word Thursday comes from the Viking god Thor . . . as in Thor's Day? Neither did the Time Warp Trio.
Did you know that if you say "Thursday" over and over again too close to a certain magic Book, you will get sucked back to a. d. 1000 when the Vikings lived? Neither did the Time Warp Trio.
Joe, Sam, and Fred are in for a wild ride as they set sail with Leif Erickson, share in a Viking feast of whale blubber, and match wits with Grim Snake-in-the-Grass while trying to find the ever-elusive Book and get back home.
Grade 3-5-The Time Warp Trio takes a surprise time hike back to A.D. 1000. There, Joe, Fred, and Sam get to know some Vikings up close and personal. Outfitted only with a zebra-striped bedspread and their brains, the boys find themselves in the midst of a family rumble between Leif Eriksson and Grim Snake-in-the-Grass. As ever, their wits serve them well, and the friends recognize the Viking version of the Book when they need it most. Scieszka works his usual quirky magic with bits of actual information inserted among the wisecracks, and McCauley's cartoons parallel the unlikely plot. This wacky combination of story and art is just right for newly independent readers who enjoy a good joke. Pat Leach, Lincoln City Libraries, NE Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Jon Scieszka was born in Flint, Michigan on September 8th, 1954. He grew up with five brothers, has the same birthday as Peter Sellers and the Virgin Mary, and a sneaking suspicion that the characters in his Dick and Jane reader were not of this world. Those plain facts, plus his elementary school principal dad, Louis, his registered nurse mom, Shirley (who once took Jon's Cub Scout den on a field trip to the prenatal ward), Mad Magazine, four years of pre-med undergrad, "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show", an M.F.A. in Fiction from Columbia University, Robert Benchley, five years of painting apartments in New York City, his lovely wife Jeri Hansen who introduced him to Molly Leach and Lane Smith, Green Eggs and Ham, his teenage daughter Casey and almost teenage son Jake, ten years of teaching a little bit of everything from first grade to eighth grade, and the last twenty years of living in Brooklyn...are just some of Jon's answers to the questions, "Where do you get your ideas?" and/or "How did you become a writer?" I don't know, just because, none of your beeswax, and flapdoodle poppycock and balderdash are some more of Jon's answers to questions you can imagine on your own. Jon met up with Lane Smith around 1986 or so, and nothing has been the same since. Their first book, the wiseguy fairy tale retelling, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! was initially rejected by most publishers as "too weird" and "too sophisticated". Published by Viking in 1989, The True Story has now sold over a million copies, been translated into ten languages, and been called a "classic picture book for all ages". Jon and Lane's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992) took the world of the picture book a few steps further. Goofing with the conventions of fairy tales and even being a book, The Stinky Cheese Man became a household word, sold another mess of copies in multiple languages, offended a few purists, and still managed to win a Caldecott Honor medal. Math Curse (1995) further stretched the notion of what subjects make good picture books, selling more books faster than either 3 Little Pigs or Stinky Cheese, and winning a whole slew of awards --all for a book full of mathematics.More recently, Jon and Lane have resurrected fables (in the smart, funny, and a little bit wicked way Aesop would have wanted them) in their latest collaboration, Squids Will Be Squids (1998). No telling where they might take the picture book next. Someone once wrote, "Jon Scieszka has forever changed the face of children's literature." And while there is still some confusion over exactly who that someone was, and whether children's literature does, in fact, have a face, most would agree-from The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! to Squids Will Be Squids, since Scieszka put pen to paper, children's literature sure has been...different.
The author of this book seems to have thought it was funny to include a character named "Bullshik" in the story (no, that's not a typo, it is really B-U-L-L-S-H-I-K). In case you think this was inadvertent, Bullshik's co-star is named Fulluvit, which makes it clear that a pun was intended - a pun with coarse language completely inappropriate for any child.
This is a book targeted at 9-12 year old CHILDREN (as noted on Amazon's site) and read by younger ones as well. I was pretty unhappy when I heard my 8-year-old talking about Bullshik. She had no idea that this word resembled something no child should be saying. Unfortunately, most kids do know such language, and this book makes them think it is funny. Essentially, it is encouraging children to use coarse language.
I'm no prude. Away from my children I use the word they mimic - and plenty more. But in front of my children, I set an example. I expect children's books to stick to certain standards. This work has failed completely.
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The Time Warp Trio:
Viking it and Liking it
By: Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by: Adam McCauley
If you like Vikings, then you will really like this book because this book is an "S'wonderful" book. The book " Time Warp Trio: Viking It And Liking It" is about three boys named Sam, Fred, and Joe being warped back into the past by a green mist from a book called "The Book" that Joe got from his uncle, a so called magician, for his birthday. At the end of the adventure, they always have to find "The Book" or they will never return to the present.
This book tells how Joe, Sam, and Fred time warp two thousand years in the past to the Vikings. While they are there, they see how the Vikings live, eat, fight, what they drink out of, and how they travel from place to place. The book also tells how Joe uses one of his tricks to defeat Grim Snake-in-the-Grass [which is Leif Eriksson's cousin] and his Vikings.
What adventure do you think Joe, Sam, and Fred will go next by "The Book." I hope that a lot of kids will read this book and like the book.
This book is for ages 7 and up.
By: Chase
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I bought this book to read to one of my boys (6 at the time). Thankfully, I was the one reading it and was able to change the character's name to something other that BULLSHIK. I was SO VERY disappointed in the author and the usage of this word in the book for 3rd to 6th graders! I found this book the other day behind some other books on a shelf. I grabbed and it and decided to write something here. As soon as I'm done typing, I'm going to tear the book up and throw it up in the trash. I have never done that before but I don't want my now 8-year old to read it and I don't want to give it away. So I have no other choice. Goodbye Time Warp Trio - Viking It and Liking It! So long and good riddens!
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