The Magic School Bus

This article is about the book series. For the television series based on the books, see The Magic School Bus (TV series).

The Magic School Bus is a series of children's books about science written by author Joanna Cole. They feature the antics of Ms. Valerie Frizzle, an elementary school teacher, and her class, who board a magical school bus which takes them on field trips to impossible locations such as the solar system, clouds, the past, and the human body. The books are written in the first person from the point of view of an unnamed student in "the Friz's" class. The class pet, Liz, a lizard, accompanied the class on their field trips.

Since the Magic School Bus books present scientific facts in the form of stories in which fantastic things happen (for example, a bus turns into a spaceship, or children shrink to the size of blood cells), each book has a page at the end detailing in a humorous manner which parts of the book represented scientific fact and which were fanciful storytelling. In the books' television adaptation, the series breaks the fourth wall at the end of each episode, in which the "producers", guest stars, or characters of the show receives phone calls from kids complaining about how some things that happened on the show couldn't happen in real life. The producer that is seen most of the time is voiced by Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

History

Craig Walker, vice-president and senior editorial director at Scholastic Co., stated that the concept began with the idea of combining science with fictional stories, and Joanna Cole (who had written both science and humor before) and Bruce Degen were then approached with creating such a series; Walker also states that his own memories of school field trips and of a teacher he had once had served as further inspiration.^[1]

The first book "At the Waterworks" was written in 1985 and published the following year.

Cole and Degen started a new series called Ms. Frizzle's Adventures in 2001, which teaches social studies. There are now three books in that series. Microsoft Home started publishing Magic School Bus software in 1994.

Scholastic Entertainment, the American Meteorological Society and the Children's Museum of Houston created a Scholastics the Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm, a 2,600 sq ft (240 m²). traveling exhibit funded in part by the National Science Foundation, which premiered at the Children's Museum of Houston in 2003 (a copy of it opened in New Jersey the month after that).^[2]

Characters

Main article: List of The Magic School Bus characters

In the original books, Ms. Frizzle's class was larger, and consisted of Tim, Arnold, Ralph (changed to "Ralphie" on the show and later books in this series), Dorothy Ann, Wanda, Phoebe, John, Carmen, Gregory, Amanda Jane, Florrie, Shirley, Michael, Phil, Molly, Rachel, Alex, Carlos, and Keesha. Phoebe was first introduced in the 1987 book, The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, and Carlos and Keesha were added in the 1994 book, The Magic School Bus In the Time of Dinosaurs.

List of Books and Merchandise

The Original Series

For more information on these classic stories, see "Magic School Bus Merchandise" link above.

1. At the Waterworks
2. Inside the Earth
3. Inside the Human Body
4. Lost in the Solar System
5. On the Ocean Floor
6. In the Time of the Dinosaurs
7. Inside a Hurricane
8. Inside a Beehive
9. And the Electric Field Trip
10. Explores the Senses
11. And the Science Fair Expedition*
12. And the Climate Challenge

Notes: *The Science Fair Expedition released 20 years after At the Waterworks because the series had its anniversary.

Chapter Books

1. The Truth About Bats
2. The Search for the Missing Bones
3. The Wild Whale Watch
4. Space Explorers
5. Twister Trouble
6. The Giant Germ
7. The Great Shark Escape
8. Penguin Puzzle
9. Dinosaur Detectives
10. Expedition Down Under
11. Insect Invaders
12. Amazing Magnetism
13. Polar Bear Patrol
14. Electric Storm
15. Voyage to the Volcano
16. Butterfly Battle
17. Food Chain Frenzy
18. The Fishy Field Trip
19. Color Day Relay
20. Rocky Road Trip

Scholastic Reader Level 2

1. The Magic School Bus Has A Heart
2. The Magic School Bus Gets Caught In a Web
3. The Magic School Bus Gets Recycled
4. The Magic School Bus And the Missing Tooth
5. The Magic School Bus Fights Germs
6. The Magic School Bus Gets Crabby
7. The Magic School Bus Explores the World of Bugs
8. The Magic School Bus Weathers the Storm
9. The Magic School Bus At the First Thanksgiving
10. The Magic School Bus Arctic Adventure
11. The Magic School Bus Lost in Snow
12. The Magic School Bus and the Shark Adventure
13. The Magic School Bus Builds the Statue of Liberty
14. The Magic School Bus in a Bat Cave
15. The Magic School Bus Comes to It's Senses
16. The Magic School Bus and the Wild Leaf Ride
17. The Magic School Bus and the Butterfly Bunch
18. The Magic School Bus Rides Into Space
19. The Magic School Bus Rides the Wind
20. The Magic School Bus in the Rain Forest
21. The Magic School Bus Sleeps for the Winter
22. The Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals
23. The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Blizzard
24. The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Forest Fire
25. The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Earthquake
26. The Magic School Bus to the Rescue: Flash Flood
27. The Magic School Bus Inside Your Mouth
28. The Magic School Bus Explores the Ocean
29. The Magic School Bus Flies with Dinosaurs
30. The Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk
31. The Magic School Bus Flies From the Nest
32. The Magic School Bus Blasts Into Space

Science Readers

1. The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in its Pants
2. The Magic School Bus Going Batty
3. The Magic School Bus in the Haunted Museum
4. The Magic School Bus Gets all Dried Up
5. The Magic School Bus In the Arctic
6. The Magic School Bus Meets the Rot Squad
7. The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top
8. The Magic School Bus Answers Questions
9. The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie
10. The Magic School Bus Gets Programmed
11. The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm
12. The Magic School Bus Plays Ball
13. The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds
14. The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs
15. The Magic School Bus Gets a Bright Idea
16. The Magic School Bus Butterfly and the Bog Beast
17. The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow
18. The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake
19. The Magic School Bus Out of this World
20. The Magic School Bus Taking Flight
21. The Magic School Bus Takes a Dive
22. The Magic School Bus Gets Cold Feet
23. The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells
24. The Magic School Bus Spins a Web
25. The Magic School Bus Gets Planted
26. The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten
27. The Magic School Bus Wet All Over
28. The Magic School Bus Goes Upstream
29. The Magic School Bus In A Pickle
30. The Magic School Bus Hops Home
31. The Magic School Bus Sees Stars
32. The Magic School Bus Looking for Liz (sticker book)

A Science Fact Finder Book

1. Skeletons Fact Finder
2. Bats Fact Finder
3. Field Trip Facts

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures

1. Imperial China
2. Medieval Castle
3. Ancient Egypt

Liz series

1. Liz Finds a Friend
2. Liz Takes Flight
3. Liz Looks for a Home
4. Liz Sorts It Out
5. Liz on the Move
6. Liz Makes a Rainbow

DVDs

Main article: The Magic School Bus merchandise

1. AND THE ENVIRONMENT - Rocks and Rolls & Holiday Special
2. AND THE FLYING ANIMALS - Going Batty & Butterfly and the Bog Beast
3. BIG AND SMALL - The Busasaurus & Gets Ants in its Pants
4. EXPLORES CELLS AND MOLECULES - Meets Molly Cule & Goes Cellular
5. EXPLORES INSECTS - Beehive & Spins A Web
6. EXPLORES NEW HABITATS - In The City & Get Swamped
7. EXPLORES THE HUMAN BODY - Works Out & Makes A Stink
8. FOOD - Meets the Rot Squad & Gets Ready, Set, Dough
9. FOOD CYCLE - Gets Eaten & Goes to Seed
10. GETS A BOOST - Getting Energized & Revving Up
11. GETS ROCKING - Out of this World & Blows its Top
12. GETS TO SHINE—Gets a Bright Idea & Makes a Rainbow
13. GOES ON A FIELD TRIP - In The Arctic & Goes Upstream
14. HABITATS AND DESERTS - Hops Home & All Dried Up
15. THE HUMAN BODY - Inside Ralphie & For Lunch
16. IN MOTION - Taking Flight & Flexes it's Muscles
17. IN THE AIR - Kicks up A Storm & Gets Lost in Space
18. IN THE WATER - Ups and Downs & Wet All Over
19. LEARNS ABOUTS MICROBES AND REPTILES - In A Pickle & Cold Feet
20. LEARNS ABOUT PLANTS AND FORESTS - Gets Planted & In The Rain Forest
21. LEARNS SOMETHING NEW - Cracks a Yolk & Gets Programmed
22. LEARNS TO BUILD - Under Construction & Shows and Tells
23. LIGHTS UP - Sees Stars & Gets Charged
24. PHYSICS - Plays Ball & In the Haunted House
25. TESTS THE WATERS - Goes to Mussel Beach & Takes a Dive
26. UNDER PRESSURE - Goes on Air & Gains Weight

VHS

1. Flexes It's Muscles
2. Gets Lost In Space
3. Greatest Adventures
4. Hops Home
5. Inside The Haunted Mansion
6. Inside Ralphie
7. Gets Eaten
8. For Lunch
9. Blows It's Top
10. Plays Ball
11. Goes To Seed
12. Kicks Up A Storm
13. Going Batty
14. Creepy Crawly Fun
15. Under Construction
16. Out Of This World
17. Gets Ants In Its Pants
18. Gets Planted
19. Butterflies!
20. Ready, Set, Dough
21. The Busasauras
22. In The Rainforest
23. Makes A Rainbow
24. Taking Flight
25. Getting Energized
26. Magic Schoolbus Holiday Special
27. Spins A Web
28. In A Beehive

References

1. ^ Lodge, Sally (2006-07-27). "Two Decades of Fun and Learning on the Magic School Bus". Children’s Bookshelf. Publisher’s Weekly. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6356809.html. Retrieved 2009-03-23. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ McCallum, Cheryl D.; L. Nazarani, The Children's Museum of Houston (2007-01-04). "Scholastics the Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm Museum Exhibit". ams.confex.com. American meteorological Society. http://ams.confex.com/ams/84Annual/techprogram/paper_66953.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-23. 

External links

• Official site
• Magic School Bus series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database