Eggs-tinct:

Cracking Up in Prehistoric Times

(Looney Tunes Wacky Adventure 1)

by
Tracey West

illustrated by

Duendes del Sur

Scholastic, October 2003, 56 pp.
ISBN: 0-439-56581-2

Genre: Early Chapter
Subgenres: Cartoon Characters / Time Travel
Reviewed: 12/9/2007

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Tree for Two

Daffy stepped on Bug's head and scrambled onto a tree branch hanging overhead.

"Watch it, Doc!" Bugs yelled at Daffy. He jumped up onto the branch, joining Daffy just in time. The dinosaurs surrounded the tree and began chomping on some leaves. Daffy gulped and stared into the eyes of a real dinosaur. It was huge--about as long as a school bus. It had sturdy-looking legs; as curved, beaklike snout; and three sharp horns sticking out from the front of its head.

"They look hungry," Daffy said nervously. "You know, I once saw a special about dinosaurs on the Prehistoric Channel. "I'm pretty sure it said that dinosaurs loved to eat rabbit."

"Oh no!" Bugs said. "I saw the same special, and I'm pretty sure it said that dinosaurs love to eat duck!"

"You're wrong," Daffy said. "It's rabbit!"

"Duck!"

"Rabbit!"

"Duck!"

"Rabbit!"

Beep!

"Beep?" Bugs asked. The Re-replacer on Daffy's wrist was making noise. "Hey, that watch thingy is trying to tell us something'. Gimme that!" Bugs took the Re-replacer off Daffy's wrist and strapped it to his own. He pushed the black button, and words appeared on the screen:

WHERE: North America

WHEN: Cretaceous period

WHO: 3 travelers, 1 missing

TIME REMAINING: 2 hours, 51 minutes, 3 seconds

RETURN CHECKPOINT: Tar Pits

"The Contagious period!" Daffy sputtered. "We've got to get out of here. I can't get sick. I'm going to be a movie star!"

"That's Cretaceous, not contagious, ya dummy," Bugs said. "That means we're in prehysterical, I mean , prehistorical times."

Review

On the WB Studio Lot, in the cafeteria, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety Bird and Granny were all gathering for lunch. Daffy was gabbing away on the phone when Hank the prop man pushed a funny-looking machine through the room. Daffy, thinking it was a beverage machine pressed the red button. Tweety Bird, who was minding his own business, gets zapped and disappears. Figuring the machine was not a beverage dispenser, they read the text on it and find out that the machine is called an ACME Space Replacer. It is used to go anywhere in time and Tweety Bird is now stuck somewhere in time without the Re-replacer. While Bugs and Daffy are arguing in front of the machine, Sylvester presses the button they disappears also. Arriving in prehistoric times, Bugs and Daffy soon realize they they have less than 3 hours to find Tweety Bird and all get to the Tar Pits before they are stuck back in time forever. But they have two problems: 1) they don't know where Tweety Bird is, and 2) there seem to be a lot of dinosaurs around . . . and some of them may be hungry for rabbit or duck.

Eggs-tinct: Cracking Up in Prehistoric Times is the first book in the Looney Tunes Wacky Adventures series put out by Warner Bros. This book was written by Tracy West and illustrated by Duendes del Sur. This series is intended for young readers aged 7 to 9.

I grew up watching Looney Tunes on television in the 1970's. To me, there really aren't any funnier or more entertaining animated characters than those drawn by Warner Bros. artists in the 1940's and 1950's and voiced over by Mel Blanc. So, when I saw that Scholastic was offering these books a few years ago, I bought them thinking my daughter might want to read them. Unfortunately, we never had the time to get to them. So, now that I have a little spare time, I thought I would crack one open and I wasn't disappointed. The story that Tracey West tells is both fun and entertaining. Kids who love the cartoons will instantly fall for this book. The artwork by Duendes del Sur is closer to the modern version of these character and is very good. I quite enjoyed Bugs and Daffy's adventure with the dinosaurs and look forward to more tales of time travel with the Looney Tunes characters. Overall, Eggs-tinct: Cracking Up in Prehistoric Times is an excellent first book in the Looney Tunes Wacky Adventures series that promises to be a lot of fun.

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.