Your Mother Was a Neanderthal (Time Warp Trio) (Paperback)

~ Lane Smith (Author), Adam McCauley (Illustrator), (Author) "It was like nothing on earth we had ever seen before..." (more)
Key Phrases: dinosaur head, woolly mammoth, Stone Age, Woo Maa, Joe Sam Fred (more...)

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.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140363726
• ISBN-13: 978-0140363722
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,299,499 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #56 in	Books > Children's Books > Series > Humorous > Time Warp Trio
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• This item is part of The Time Warp Trio Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Nancy R. Woodington (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud fun!, July 14, 2000

By	Dawn Dixon (Tucson, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Mother Was a Neanderthal (Time Warp Trio) (School & Library Binding)

The Time Warp Trio (Fred, Sam and Joe) find heart-stoppingadventure when they end up in the days of the caveman. Cleverword-play keeps the reader laughing and the non-stop adventure keeps the pages turning. Another fun and highly entertaining book in the Time Warp Trio series. Jon Scieszka combines adventure, history, fantasy and humor in a compelling format that even reluctant readers will find hard to put down.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Review of Your Mother was a Neanderthal, May 11, 2005

A Kid's Review

I think this book should be rated 5 stars because it's really funny and has a lot of smart remarks. In the story Sam Joe and Fred, in other words the time warp trio travel to the time 40,000 BC. There they meet cavemen and cave women. The problem is that they have to find the magic book to get back to their own time. There they met three cavegirls who took them up to meet their leader Ma. Then Ma locked them up a cave and that's when thier problems started. But they finally escaped by running away when Ma opened the gate. After awhile they met cavemen and their leader Ug. Then Ug showed them maggot infested meat. When Sam Joe and Fred tried to get out of the smelly hole in the ground Ug pulled them down and said no caw. That's when they saw a sabre tooth tiger and they came up with an idea. They dressed like a really ugly monster and scared the tiger off. Then they went back to the cave and found the book. They used the book to go back home.

By Kayla Overman