You Choose Prehistoric Survival: Could You Survive in Prehistoric Times?

By Eric Braun and Alessandro Valdrighi

What would happen if you went back in time? Imagine stepping into the Stone Age and meeting some Neanderthals. Would it be a peaceful encounter or a Stone-Age smackdown? What if you went back to when dinosaurs roamed? Would you be a tasty snack for a T-Rex or the first human to tame fire? Remember, in a time before recorded history, just about everything could kill you. You Choose Books offer an exciting, immersive nonfiction learning experience where the reader chooses which path to take through the story. Along the way, readers learn about real time periods in a fun, interactive adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781977157294

Eric Braun

Eric Braun is a children’s author and editor. He has written dozens of books on many topics, and one of his books was read by an astronaut on the International Space Station for kids on Earth to watch. Eric lives in Minneapolis with his wife, two kids, and a dog who is afraid of cardboard.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Could You Survive the Cretaceous Period?

Cretaceous Period Introduction

Chapter 1: One Tough Test

Chapter 2: Welcome to the Jungle

Chapter 3: All the Beautiful Flowers

Chapter 4: Seafood Special

Chapter 5: The Cretaceous Period

Cretaceous Period Timeline

Could You Survive the Jurassic Period?

Jurassic Period Introduction

Chapter 1: Lost in Time

Chapter 2: The Prehistoric Forest

Chapter 3: The Open Plains

Chapter 4: Into the Wetlands

Chapter 5: The Jurassic Period

Jurassic Period Timeline

Could You Survive the Ice Age?

Ice Age Introduction

Chapter 1: The Museum of Natural History

Chapter 2: North America

Chapter 3: Europe

Chapter 4: Australia

Chapter 5: The Ice Ages

Timeline of Earth's Ice Ages

Other Paths to Explore

Read More

Internet Sites

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Copyright

Back Cover

Cover

Title Page

Table of Contents

Start of Content

Backmatter

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

cover

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2

back cover

COULD YOU SURVIVE THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD?

Introduction

Chapter 1: One Tough Test

Chapter 2: Welcome to the Jungle

Chapter 3: All the Beautiful Flowers

Chapter 4: Seafood Special

Chapter 5: The Cretaceous Period

Timeline

INTRODUCTION

YOU are an ordinary kid going about your everyday life. Suddenly, you find yourself in a strange place and a strange time. It’s a period from long ago. The world looks different than anything you’ve ever seen before. Terrifying beasts roam the land. Danger lurks at every turn. Where will you find shelter? How will you get food? Will you ever see your friends and family again? Most importantly of all, can you survive?

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to take. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the story. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

YOU CHOOSE the path you take through the Cretaceous Period!

CHAPTER 1

ONE TOUGH TEST

YOU are taking a test on the Cretaceous Period in science class. The room is silent except for the scratching of pencils. Ms. Turrey is in the back of the room working on a prehistoric terrarium display. Suddenly, you hear some electric pops, and she lets out a startled gasp.

You’ve always liked Ms. Turrey because she really loves science—and it shows. She’s always talking about cool discoveries and cracking science jokes. And she does lots of experiments. Her class is never boring. That’s why you don’t think much about the noises at first. It’s just another one of Ms. Turrey’s fun experiments.

But then the room gets humid. A smell comes from the back like mud and leafy plants.

Oh my, Ms Turrey says.

You look back. The terrarium contains a model of a Cretaceous Period landscape, complete with plants, toy dinosaurs, and a pool of water representing a sea. For some reason, two big electric cords are attached to the sides of the terrarium. A small gray laptop sits on the table next to it. Its cable has slipped into the fake sea. A gooey liquid sizzles around the computer, eating at the desk. A thick mist wafts from the tank. You drop your pencil.

Is everything okay? you ask.

Please, Ms. Turrey says, keep working. I’m just going to get the custodian.

She speed walks out. You want to obey her, but your curiosity gets the better of you. You and your best friend, Harriet, go to the now-rumbling tank for a closer look. The mist wraps around you.

Don’t touch anything! Ms. Turrey calls from the hall. Other students are coming to look too.

Your head suddenly feels strange. Why are you so dizzy? Did the toy Triceratops just look at you? You reach inside the tank to pick it up, and the world spins. You fall back, and when you open your eyes, you’re lying on the ground—the muddy ground.

The desks are gone. The tank is gone. Even the walls are gone. Overhead, a pteranodon soars under the sun, dragging its great shadow over you. You don’t understand how, but one thing is obvious. You have just been transported to the Cretaceous Period.

To explore a jungle in the Early Cretaceous, press here.

To wander through a flowery field in the Late Cretaceous, press here.

To experience the coastline of the sea at the end of the Cretaceous, press here.

CHAPTER 2

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

You wake up on the floor of a forest in a tangle of ferns and other leafy plants. As you open your eyes, you feel a sting on your neck. You slap it, and your hand comes back smeared with blood. The smashed body of a black bug the size of a nickel falls to the dirt by your face. Its legs kick one last time, and it dies.

What happened? someone asks.

It’s Harriet. She’s lying near you in the leaves.

Ew! she says, swatting a bug off her hair.

I can’t explain it, you say. I think we time traveled. It looks like we’re in the Cretaceous Period—the Early Cretaceous to be exact.

Like on the test, she says.

You’re still kneeling on the ground when it begins to rumble. You can feel it through your whole body. Standing up, you look out between the trees and see a herd of huge dinosaurs storming across the plains. Each one is longer than two semitrailers. When they lift their necks, they are taller than your city library—and it’s an eight-story building! You know from your science test these are some kind of sauropod. They’re not meat eaters, but their sheer size is terrifying. You imagine getting trampled beneath them. There are at least a dozen of them, and each one could use you as a toothpick.

They’re heading your way. They are scary, but also fascinating.

To run away, press here.

To hide and watch them, press here.

Come on! you yell.

Harriet follows as you run deeper into the jungle. You leap over a fallen tree. Bugs buzz through the air. A pack of small mammals that you recognize as multituberculates scrambles out of your way and into the brush. They look like rats, but they’re the size of house cats.

Finally, the rumbling fades behind you. It’s getting dark, and the breeze is chilly. You realize you had better start thinking about shelter. Where is a safe place to sleep? You worry about sleeping on the ground, where any dinosaur or animal could reach you. You look up at the tree in front of you. It is choked with moss, twisty vines, and fern leaves, making the upper branches almost impossible to see into.

I think we should find a tree where we can spend the night, you say.

I’m hungry, Harriet replies.

Well I don’t think we’re going to find a cheeseburger tonight. We need to get somewhere safe until morning.

You and Harriet find a tree with a good strong limb and a thick curtain of leaves to keep you hidden. You gather some leaves and vines to keep you as warm as possible, but still you shiver all through the night.

The next morning, Harriet stretches and looks around. She looks