Sam Samurai

Time Warp Trio #10

by Jon Scieszka, Adam McCauley (Illustrator)

Everyone’s favorite time-travelers are changing their styles!  The Time Warp Trio series now features a brand-new, eye-catching design, sure to appeal to longtime fans, and those new to Jon Scieszka’s wacky brand of humor.

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Humor, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Jon Scieszka is an American children's writer, best known for picture books created with the illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and the founder of Guys Read – a web-based literacy program for boys whose mission is "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers."

Reviews

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that we have exhausted the Captain Underpants series, my son, Sam has moved onto this series. He can read them independently but sometimes has problems following the storyline, so we often read them together. Sam likes that one of the characters in the book shares his name. He also likes the sarcastic tone and the descriptions of historical figures. He requests I check a new one out each time we visit the library.

[Katharine Grubb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scieszka is funny, as always, and I was a little worried about the learning value of this book when I started. The boys are assigned haiku homework, in the 5-7-5 format!

They warp to 17th Century Japan just before Basho's birth, and have a grand adventure learning about renga and hokku. They eventually write some great haiku to turn into their teacher!

This would be recommended to kids about 8-9 years old learning about haiku and how NOT TO WRITE it in the 5-7-5 format. However, the students could do a lesson to perhaps improve upon the boys' haiku by using more cutting words and less punctuation- or do their own book report written in a renga in teams.

[Luann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend this series to reluctant readers who are looking for something quick, but fun. I've had boys and girls read through the entire series. As an adult, I thought they were just okay. I do like that they introduce students to famous historical figures and time periods.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like it more; I enjoyed the haiku part; but it's fluff. Pure fluff. Even from a children's lit perspective. I'm sure some kids like it and I applaud anything that gets them enjoying words on an actual page . . . but it was just so fluffy that I raced through it since it's short.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one has an answer to the translator question, if not a very detailed one. It also got a bit metta for one chapter. Not bad, but very topical.

Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!

[Victor Aponte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta es una relectura. Leí este libro cuando todavía seguía en el liceo. Volví a encontrarme con él hace poco y decidí volver a aventarmelo para registrarlo en el goodreads. Es entretenido. Me dan ganas de leerme los libros de toda la serie. Es ligerito como para pasar una tarde.

[DandE Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

We finished this, but the humor/sarcasm was lost on D. A little too young to appreciate it(at 3).

[QuantiFIRE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its ok because its more of the same

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My third grade nephew and I had fun reading this and laughing at the ridiculous jokes.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not expecting them to meet their great-granddaughters again, and in the past! Joe, Jo, Fred, Freddi, Sam and Samm go back to samurai times.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This kids book is in a similar vein to “The Magic Treehouse” series but with more action and more plot-focused.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend Sam Samurai by because it is funny. I think you should read this book because it is a good starter book. this book works really good with an audible that's what made it funny and interesting and makes you understand it better.

This book is about three kids time traveling back on time and they lost the time travel book. So what they are doing is they are looking for the book in Japan. And this is when there where samurai so what happen is the where looking for the book in someone house they thought they saw the samurai but it wasn't it was fake. And so what happens when you are further in the book is that they have to go through a passport Check and he three boys don't have passports and what one of the samurai said is that you can Perform a majestic trick to get past to find the book. So then the boss came and yelled at them and the boys great grand daughter came and said they are Friars of the queen....
I recommend this book to people who don't like to read, but like to use audible books.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the tenth book in the Time Warp Trio series by Jon Scieszka. We've been slowly working our way through the series and we really enjoy these stories.

This tale takes us to ancient Japan, where the boys meet samurais, poets, and a few relatives, too. We are introduced to Edo, the precursor to modern-day Tokyo and we also learn a lot about Haiku.

Overall, it's a fairly typical book for the series, filled with silliness and a little dangerous drama. We really enjoyed reading it together and look forward to the next book in the series.

[Children's Literature · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever met a samurai? How about a samurai named Owattabutt? That’s right, Oh-what-a-butt. Fred, Sam, and Joe go back in time four hundred years to medieval Japan, where they have to use their cleverness and knowledge to survive samurai swords and Japanese poetry. Luckily, they find a few friends to help them out. What would it be like to live in a country ruled by warriors? Can you write a haiku about something you learned in this book? Remember, seven syllables, five syllables, seven syllables.

[Cat4cwa]

Jonathan and I are reading this as a he-reads-a-sentence-I-read-a-sentence. I could tell J. was going to like it when the main characters accidently cut off a samurai's head at the end of the first chapter. Irreverent, goofy, and excellent for a seven-year-old boy. There are a bunch of these and we picked them up on a whim at a used bookstore when we were in Providence. I'm hoping they will eventually inspire some desire for independent reading. We shall see......

[Carol Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a great book that has the humor element for those who like Captain Underpants, but isn't as crude. It would be a great read that could be paired with an assignment to create your own haiku or learning some basic Japanese. I love that it points out that Japan is more than ninjas, and they were basically robbers!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the immensely popular Magic Tree House series, except minus the tree house and plus a whole bunch of sarcasm. This particular volume included a lot of haikus as the Trio went back in time to 1600 Japan. Great for boys.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, fun and perfect read-aloud for our Japanese Language school 2-3rd graders - also a another way to interest kids in a series. Always saw the Time Warp series on the shelf - but - didn't pick it up until this one caught my eye at the Library.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very similar idea to Magic Tree House, but funnier, goofier, and much quicker wit and pace. I liked it. I need to purchace a bunch more and see if they are all this good.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

So PERFECT for an early reader...especially for a boy that doesn't seem to want to read. I've loved everyone I've read.

[Mahmud Said · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think the book was really good and it waz very soprizing

[matthew smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

GOOOOODDDDD

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time Warp. The trio is in trouble with Sam Samurai

[Kirill Veselyev · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual the three friends go into some new adventure and end up in a disaster. They meet a samurai and once again need to escape total death.

[Patricia Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the part where the Trio chopped off the head of a samurai then found out it was only the armor. It was cool to see their great grand daughters again too. -Daniel

[Alaina Sloo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love love love this series for it's hilarious "boy" humor. Great to read aloud and for kids to read on their own. Sam Samurai is one of my new favorites in the series.

[Amy (Bossy Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry loved it. We didn't realize it was #10 in a series, so he's starting with #1.