The Time Warp Trio is a children's book series written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith and Adam McCauley, which describes the adventures of three boys – Joe, Sam, and Fred – who travel through time and space with the aid of a mysterious object known as "The Book". The first book, Knights of the Kitchen Table was published in 1991. An animated television adaptation was produced by WGBH Boston and Soup2Nuts and aired on Discovery Kids (later, The Hub).

Plot

For his birthday, Joe receives a mysterious blue book (known only as "The Book") from his magician uncle and namesake, "Joe the Magnificent". Using a number of often unpredictable and/or unintentional voice and print cues, The Book frequently transports Joe and his friends, Fred and Sam, to a variety of different times and places, from Camelot's medieval court of knights and dragons to the year 2095, where they meet their own great-granddaughters. The only way they are able to return to present-day Brooklyn, New York is to find The Book again within whatever time period they are in. Anna, Joe's sister, is also always eager to have the book (which is quite annoying to Joe). During their travels, Joe and his friends learn that The Book will eventually be inherited by Joe's great-granddaughter, Jodie, who time travels with The Book with her friends who are Sam and Fred's great-granddaughters, Samantha and Freddi, and occasionally save the boys from trouble when their paths cross. The Time Warp Trio faces many challenges during their travels as they learn how to use The Book.

Characters

Media

Books

Television series

A TV series based on the books debuted on July 9, 2005, as a production by Soup 2 Nuts, in association with WGBH Boston, and initially aired on Discovery Kids and TVOKids.