Bridging the Gap II: Stepping into Chapter Books

John Scieszka's Time Warp Trio series is another time-travel chapter series, this time with a bit of attitude. Three Brooklyn boys, Joe, Fred, and Sam, come into possession of a mysterious volume christened The Book which somehow takes them into weird adventures in the past and future. The Time Warp Trio are loyal but wise-cracking buddies who find offbeat action as they make their way through various venues and, with the aid of their wits, warp themselves back home.

The titles of each volume are a trip in and of themselves, for example, Plaid to the Bone (in which the trio visit medieval Scotland) and You Can't, But Genghis Khan (in which they warp to 13th century Mongolia).

In Viking It and Liking It, merely mentioning "Thursday" (named for Thor) transports the boys from Brooklyn to "Vinland," where they dodge marauding Indians, find themselves on Leif Ericson's ship, and learn about runes, skalds, and sagas. The Time Warp Trio provides slapstick action in historical settings to keep the young reader rolling through the many titles in this series.