Your Mother Was a Neanderthal (Time Warp Trio) [School & Library Binding]

Jon Scieszka (Author), Lane Smith (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Time Warp Trio

The return of the popular Time Warp Trio finds the resourceful friends journeying back in time to the Stone Age, where school is no longer a problem but where there are plenty of other dangers and adventures awaiting. Reprint. SLJ. AB.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-Joe, Sam, and Fred find themselves "absolutely naked" at the outset of this prehistoric adventure. While fans of the previous three books won't be surprised at this somewhat outrageous beginning, it's sure to catch the attention of first-timers. Scieszka's humorous, zippy dialogue and word play, combined with Stone Age icons (a saber-toothed cat; a woolly mammoth; cave paintings; and an interesting and hilarious collection of cavemen, women, and girls), are sure to appeal to readers. References to classic time-travel books-Edward Eager's Half Magic, Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, and H.G.Wells's The Time Machine- are bound to spur many readers on to other new adventures. This fast-paced, fun story is perfectly matched by Smith's wacky black-and-white illustrations. Another great book from the dynamic duo!-Gale W. Sherman, Pocatello Public Library, ID
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. Sam, Joe, and Fred, the Time Warp Trio who made their first appearances in Knights of the Kitchen Table (1991) and the Not So Jolly Roger (1991), travel back to the Stone Age and are immediately in trouble. First of all, they don't have "The Book" that enables them to travel in time, and second of all, they're naked. Sam, with a large leaf and a piece of vine, invents clothes--just in time for them to be discovered by "cavegirls." Sam, Joe, and Fred escape (they think) the hostile women, take refuge with men hiding from a saber-toothed tiger, flee a woolly mammoth, and save the day with some simple physics involving a fulcrum and a lever. Scieszka's text is funny and fast, always clever and never cute (OK, naming the cavegirls Nat-Li, Lin-Say, and Jos-Feen is cute, but that's the only part), and Smith's pen-and-ink drawings add a rollicking, somewhat riotous air to the proceedings. This is the kind of book that kids tell one another to read--a surefire hit to the funny bone, whether read alone or aloud. Janice Del Negro --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• School & Library Binding: 78 pages
• Publisher: Tandem Library (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785756655
• ISBN-13: 978-0785756651
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,679,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An amusing sci-fi comedy, December 18, 2001

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Your Mother Was a Neanderthal (The Time Warp Trio) (Paperback)

"Your Mother Was a Neanderthal," by Jon Scieszka, is a young adult novel in the "Time Warp Trio" series. The book features illustrations by Lane Smith. The story is narrated by Joe, a young schoolboy. With the aid of a magic book, he and his pals Sam and Fred travel back to prehistoric times. They have an adventure involving primitive humans and dangerous prehistoric beasts.

This is a humorous story that is nicely complemented by Smith's surreal, funny drawings. The prehistoric characters are amusing and likeable, and the three "modern" heroes have an entertaining chemistry. Overall, a pretty good adventure.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! You'll never put it down., April 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Your Mother Was a Neanderthal (Time Warp Trio) (Hardcover)

What do you think would happen if you traveled back to the time of cave men and women? The time warp trio found that out. In the stone age, they met Ma, the leader of a group of cave women,(who were very civilized for their time)and her children, Nat-Li, Lind-say, and Jos-Feen. They also met Duh, the leader of a group of cave men,(who were not 1/2 as civilized as the women). Find out what happens to the Time Warp Trio in this awsome book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it and laugh!, May 31, 2000

By 

Nancy R. Woodington - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Mother Was a Neanderthal (The Time Warp Trio) (Paperback)

as I couldn't stop doing at the typically boyish descriptions of the misadventures of the Time Warp Trio in this little volume. The jokes may be juvenile, but they're not too juvenile for middle-aged me, and I was perfectly willing to read the whole book to my children for the sake of their (completely satisfactory) reaction to a joke about cooked meat.