A reprint of four slips of books from 2018, that are anything but true stories. The bulk of the first tale is a fantasy of why the Lascaux cave artworks were made, and who by – a boy with an injured leg who the usurper of the tribe's leadership kicks out. The second has a nice framing device to convey the first story of Gilgamesh, with all its twists and demons and drama. The third story is fully invented once more, taking us to Orkney.

Each time we get a quick look at the truth of the matter, so the title is not completely a lie, and then some kind of homework ideas and projects. But it's not without issues. In just the first lines the first story proves it doesn't know whether the characters live in a cave, or in a hut with a door. The second piece proves once again you can't get away with this book's title – it's a fiction about a fiction, and added to that we get Noah's Ark revamped for the fourth part. The author's trademark comedy is missing from the opener, too.

But it's still decent. There are some who can credit Deary with all the history they have ever learnt, and these fictions – false stories – are almost as good as a museum visit to some minds. Would I rather have people remain in ignorance, or ignore my picky nature and go for these pages? The latter, any day. So I might grumble and kvetch, but the facts – not fictions – remain that this is worth four stars.

Never one to miss out on a book by Horrible Histories author Terry Deary, I looked forward to this, the third in the Terrible True Tales series, the others being about Romans, Egyptians and Greeks. In a similar format to the others, the book includes four stories set in the Stone Age from a child's perspective.

Each of the four stories is set in a different place, starting with France and includes the fascinating settlement of Skara Brae. There are references to ancient tablets that tell of Mesopotamian legends and belief systems of the time. With wonderful illustrations and extra activities, the book is a valuable learning aid for young children.

The tales are fun and full of adventure, focusing on the role children would have and the usual (and timeless) concepts of friendships, laziness, thieves, fears, bullies and storytelling. The stories also address how life was then and shows how the Stone Age folk dealt with natural disasters such as flooding and famine while remaining relevant to children of today.
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Easy to read, warm and witty and will appeal to children in lots of ways - hopefully encouraging them to study more history!

Read with my nearly 9yo child, who often finds reading challenging due to brain differences.
Found the overall concept/time period and the stories engaging.
Reminded me to read it with them every day until we finished the book.

It's a really charming book! From the four stories to the illustrations and little activities tacked to the end of each tale, it pulls through with an overall fulfilling read. I enjoyed the semi familiar retellings, but I do think sometimes it got a little bland. Characters blur together a little bit at times, and even though its target audience is children, it could've been more atmospheric. But tale by tale, I think it's a solid book to open up the world of history to children.

Watch (or rather read) the Stone Age come to life in these succinct 4 short stories shedding light on a real (most likely) Stone Age event. It’s written in a way that’s easy to get into, it’s like you’ve been cast back in time!

It’s a fab read for younger audiences and gives them the perfect introduction to the Stone Age.

They’re engaging stories and at the end of each chapter are true facts and some great inventive activities which would be great to do with friends or with a parent. It’s fun, informative and educational in a way that doesn’t make it seem like a boring school lesson! I can never recommend books by this author enough.