- Anthologies
- Ages 7–11
- Comedy
The Time-travelling Caveman
Book 3 of 3 in And Other StoriesView the full series
Part of the Terry Pratchett universeOpen the collection
Another lively collection of Pratchett's early comic stories, with time travel, cavemen, strange science-fiction ideas, and gleefully silly logic. It is best for readers who like joke-rich short stories more than emotionally deep novels.
- Best for7–11
- FormatAnthology
- Length336 pp
- Read aloud~4 hr45 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Absurdist
- Adventurous
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The Time-travelling Caveman collects early Terry Pratchett stories full of wild ideas, comic mishaps, and unlikely adventures. Across the collection, readers meet cavemen, time-bending nonsense, strange inventions, odd creatures, and ordinary people who find themselves caught in very Pratchett-like absurdity. The stories are fast, funny, and deliberately over-the-top, closer to comic sketches and serial adventures than to the more layered structure of Pratchett's later novels. Mark Beech's illustrations help break up the text and give the book an approachable energy for younger readers. This is a strong fit for children who like fantasy and science-fiction concepts but prefer them delivered with jokes, pace, and nonsense rather than detailed world-building or heavy stakes.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 7–11
- Read aloud · 6–11
- Independent · 7–11
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
Low
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Bedtime
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Short story collection
- Funny science fiction
- Early pratchett
- Time travel comedy
- Discworld gateway
Avoid if
- Needs single long plot
- Wants serious time travel
- Prefers realistic story
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Interested in science
- Struggling with reading
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Funny, inventive Terry Pratchett story collections — a great independent read and classroom-library pick for fans of clever comedy.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific delight is the variety — cavemen, time-bending nonsense, strange inventions, odd creatures, ordinary people stuck in Pratchett-shaped chaos, the stories short and joke-rich. The early-Pratchett collection for a reader who wants the humour before Discworld becomes age-appropriate.
- Time travel
- Adventure and freedom
- Breaking the rules safely
- Trickery and cleverness
Why parents love it
The third early-Pratchett anthology — closer to comic sketches than the layered later novels, Mark Beech's illustrations keeping the energy moving. Good fit for readers who want jokes-and-pace fantasy rather than world-building. Gateway-Pratchett.
- Shared humour
- Nostalgia
- Quick to read
In the series
And Other Stories.
3 books · open the series →
About the creators
About the creators.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
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- Hive ↗
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