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The Magic School Bus Lost In The Solar System (Paperback)
by Joanna Cole , Bruce Degen (Illustrator)
| Category:
Picture books, The solar system, Ages 4-8, Children's books |
| Market price: ¥ 88.00
MSL price:
¥ 78.00
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| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Mrs. Frizzle and her class travel to every planet in the solar system which gives kids another exciting and wonderful trip. |
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Author: Joanna Cole , Bruce Degen (Illustrator)
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pub. in: February, 1992
ISBN: 0590414291
Pages: 40
Measurements: 8.1 x 10.0 x 0.1 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00173
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- MSL Picks -
The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System is one in a series of science adventure books by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen (Illustrator), all of which are excellent.
Not content with what Earth has to offer, Ms. Frizzle takes her class on a field trip of outer space for the fourth installment of this acclaimed science series. The Frizzle was already planning for this field trip at the end of her previous voyage, Inside the Human Body. She informs her students that they're "going to the planetarium to see a sky show about the solar system." And since the kids have already swam through water, dug up rocks, and been digested, an afternoon at the planetarium seems like a walk through the park. There is only one thing dimming everyone's shining star. Arnold's cousin, Janet, is visiting for the day and she isn't exactly the quiet type. She's a regular Ms. Know-It-All, expressing her opinions whenever she feels like it. "I know all of you will be nice to our guest," says Ms. Frizzle. And with that, the class blasts off for the planetarium. However, it looks like the Frizzle's mission has been grounded. The planetarium is closed for repairs. But that's when the magic school bus takes matters into its own hands. The students in Ms. Frizzle's class learn all sorts of interesting facts about outer space. They get up-close and personal with the other eight planets - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. They are educated on universal bodies such as the Asteroid Belt, meteorites, the Sun, various moons, and rings of the planets. They even find out about things such as gravity, orbits, sunspots, various temperatures in space, etc. Then something happens that threatens to end the students' quest of knowledge through the solar system. The end of this book, like the three before it, has useful information on what was fact in the story and what was made up. And, like she's done three times before, Ms. Frizzle leaves the reader another clue as to what spectacular exploration she has rolled up her sleeves during our next encounter.
The books operate on several levels. They work as adventure stories as the manner in which they get diverted from an ordinary school field trip to the adventure at hand is always entertaining. The illustrations are truly wonderful and add to the story line very effectively. The books do in fact contain a lot of basic information about the topic at hand, so your kids are actually learning something as they read. And, as a final bonus, the books always involve some sore of class socialization issue, so kids are exposed to some real life classroom issue, and strategies for dealing with them as well. On top of all those, the books are just plain fun and a great series for late pre-schoolers and early elementary age kids. If you can't bring the stars to you, simply go to them yourself!
Target readers:
Kids aged 4-8
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- Better with -
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-About the author:
Joanna Cole loved science as a child. "I always enjoyed explaining things and writing reports for school. I had a teacher who was a little like Ms. Frizzle. She loved her subject. Every week she had a child do an experiment in front of the room and I wanted to be that child every week," she recalls. It's no surprise that Cole's favorite book as a child was Bugs, Insects, and Such.
Ms. Cole has worked as an elementary school teacher, a librarian, and a children's book editor. Combining her knowledge of children's literature with her love of science, she decided to write children's books. Her first book was Cockroaches, which she wrote because there had never been a book written about the insect before. "I had ample time to study the creature in my low-budget New York apartment!" Since then she has written more than 90 nonfiction and fiction books for children, and she is the winner of the 1991 Washington Post /Children's Book Guild Nonfiction award for the body of her work, which also includes the ALA Notable Children's Book How You Were Born, Bony-lets; Cars and How They Go; and with Stephanie Calmenson, The Gator Girls series. Despite the hard work Ms. Cole insists that writing "is the greatest fun in the world." And The Magic School Bus books in particular provide the opportunity for Ms. Cole to combine the two things she loves most: science and humor.
- About the illustrator:
Bruce Degen has loved art ever since he was a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York. "In sixth grade I had a wonderful teacher who would let me stand in the back of the room and paint all the time," Degen remembers. "Once I didn't even have to take a spelling test." When he wasn't drawing and painting, Mr. Degen loved to read books about bears, fantasy and science fiction.
Mr. Degen has written and illustrated several books among them Jamberry and Sailaway Home, and he has illustrated Nancy White Carlstrom's Jesse Bear books and Jane Yolen's Commander Toad series, in addition to The Magic School Bus books. "The nice thing about books is that they go out into the world. When a kid, parent, or teacher tells you how much he or she likes your book, you realize that you've given something that has become part of someone else's life," Degen says.
- How do they work together?
Each The Magic School Bus book begins with in-depth research. Cole does extensive reading, visits museums, and talks with experts. Once she's collected enough information, the author synthesizes the facts into a dummy book with sketch ideas and text for the story, speech balloons, and school reports "written" by Ms. Frizzle's students. Cole also writes the jokes found in every book. Sometimes, a page in the dummy will have a layer of jokes, all on different colored Post-it™ notes. "Eventually when I go see my editor, if he doesn't laugh at the joke on top, I say, 'Let's see what else there is, and we peel them away until we find one that he laughs at," says Cole.
Once Cole has finished her dummy and it has been reviewed by a specialist, it's time for Degen to work on the illustrations. "I take out the dummy Joanna has prepared, I look at all the research books, I look at all the notes, and then I have a cup of coffee," jokes Degen. Next, Degen prepares series of sketches showing how every page of the book will look. The collaborative process really takes off when Degen meets Cole to discuss the sketches. They talk about the story line and decide whether the art works with the action and science in the story, all the while playing off of each other's imagination.
Degen's favorite part of illustrating The Magic School Bus books is making bold fashion statements with Ms. Frizzle's weird outfits. Fans have come to enjoy the wacky dresses, shoes, and accessories, and they especially look forward to seeing Ms. Frizzle's outfit near the end of the book — it usually gives a clue to the next Magic School Bus adventure! Degen is convinced that a line of Ms. Frizzle clothing could be very popular, "especially the shoes." Degen also loves drawing Ms. Frizzle's students. They are all based on children who lived in his old neighborhood in New York, "although they don't know it."
Joanna Cole finds it a challenge to convey accurate science information and tell a humorous story kids will enjoy. When asked why she wrote The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks, Cole explained "I wanted to make it fun. I wanted the kids to be going someplace they wouldn't normally want to go, and I wanted Ms. Frizzle to be as enthusiastic as any science enthusiast can be." Cole and Degen also want the science information to be new as well as accurate. For example in The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor, they were able to include little-known information about the deep ocean floor.
In their latest Magic School Bus adventure Ms. Frizzle and her class transform themselves into bees to examine life in the hive. And what's on the horizon after that? With all the ideas they have for future stories, Bruce Degen predicts that he and Joanna will be "in rocking chairs and very old" when they write the last Magic School Bus book.
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The fieldtrip to the planetarium is foiled when the museum turns out to be closed, but Ms. Frizzle saves the day. The Magic School Bus turns into a spaceship and takes the class on a trip zooming through the atmosphere, to the Moon, and beyond, with up-to-date facts about the solar system, revised for this edition.
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A reader, USA
<2006-12-21 00:00>
This book is a blast (no pun intended)! Mrs. Frizzle and her class travel to every planet in the solar system. The bus breaks down in the asteroid belt and the students have to find Mrs. Frizzle on a very cold planet. You'll love all the colorful pictures and Arnold's crazy cousin! Blast-off to this book and learn a lot about space in a fun way! |
Alyssa Seifferly, USA
<2006-12-21 00:00>
I like this book because it makes me wonder about the solar system and everything happening in it. I love imagining what things are like in other places and this book makes me think but it also taught me stuff about the solar system too. This book makes me want to visit the solar system myself.
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Jim Bob, USA
<2006-12-21 00:00>
I like this book because it has to deal with the solar system and I like to learn about space. It does a very good job teaching you about it, and the book was really fun to read. I like how the bus turns into a space ship and goes to all the planets. |
A reader, USA
<2006-12-21 00:00>
In the beginning of the story the class is going to the museum. But it is closed for construction so Mrs. Frizzle pulls a lever and they blast off in to space. The first thing they go to is our Moon then the sun then Mercury then Venus then Mars. Then they come to the Asteroid Belt. They lose Mrs. Frizzle and on the way back to Earth they find Mrs. Frizzle in the Asteroid Belt. And in this book Arnold's cousin comes with them and she keeps on touching Mrs. Frazzle’s things when she is gone When she is lost they tell her not to but she does anyway. This book tells me all about the universe. And the plants and when they get back to earth they make a project about the Solar System. I think that anyone could like this book. I say it would be good when you are studying the universe. That is the time you should read this book. Like I said it could be good for everybody I'm 9 and I still like this book so I bet you will to. I like this book because it is very interesting |
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