Viking It and Liking It (The Time Warp Trio Series #12) by Jon Scieszka, Adam McCauley (Illustrator)

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
The Time Warp Trio are off for more adventure, and this time, Joe, Sam, and Fred are rocking the boat with those legendary Scandinavian warriors. When the lads zoom back in time to Vinland (that's North America to us non-Vikings) and come face to face with Leif Eriksson, they offer to help him find America. But when Native Americans attack, chasing the entire group into the Vikings' boat and out to the wide-open sea, the three boys must prove themselves or get thrown overboard as a watery sacrifice. To save their own hides, the TWT conjure up clever tricks to make the Vikings believe they've mastered Rune magic, and their quick thinking also comes in handy when Grim Snake-in-the-Grass (Leif's jealous, no-name cousin) tries to usurp Leif's claim as discoverer of the New Land. With hilarious extra characters who add to the fun, like Bullshik and Fulluvit -- two Viking singer-poets -- and Gunnar the swordsman, Viking It and Liking It is a rip-roaring installment that will have young history buffs learning Nordic lore while bellowing "Roooaaahh!" Matt Warner

From the Publisher

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.

School Library Journal

Gr 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

Kirkus Reviews

Another adventure in history by the boys in the Time Warp Trio. This time they are back to the days of the Vikings, around the year 1000. Scieszka's boys are wrenched from a video game called NFL Smash where players can make up their teams, smash the opponent, and do victory dances in the end zone. Joe, Sam, and Fred enjoy trash talking that comes with the territory. "Your team is so ugly, they have to sneak up on their mirror" and "Your team is so dumb, they went to the library for a book of matches." Ridiculous and predictable adventures, ample lame jokes, and silliness punctuate the tale. A skald (or poet, if you are a little rusty on your Viking myths) narrates each battle or challenge with a short poetic recitation. The trash talk of the modern football game is picked up as Leif Eriksson and his enemy, Grim Snake-in-the-Grass, fight with words and real weapons. Their two skalds, Bullshik and Fulluvit (say it aloud), only act as a humorous diversion from the weak plot. When the boys get into the poem-telling act, their creations are exactly what will cause adult eyes to roll and little boys' chuckles to begin: "Abracadabra / clink think / Nose picker / butt kicker / Zim zam / drink!" Scieszka fits in some interesting reference to the Valkyries, Valhalla, and the fortune-telling properties of runes among all the silliness, and manages to sneak in a lesson about word origins tied to the Norse gods. Light fare at best, Bullshik at worst. (Fiction. 7-10)

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