The Magic School Bus is a series of children's books, intended to teach scientific concepts to children. They were written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen, between the years 1986 and 2006. The most recent book was published in August 2006.

The books have been adapted into a television series of the same name.

Premise

The Magic School Bus features the antics of Ms. Frizzle and her class of eight children (in the original books, the class population was at a larger and more standard amount), who board a magical school bus which takes them on field trips into the solar system, under the Earth, into the human body, or to other such impossible locations. The books were written in the first person from the point of view of an unnamed student in "the Friz's" class. The class pet, Liz, an anthropomorphic 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, this was replaced by the Producer Says segment at the end of each episode, in which the producer of the show (voiced by Malcolm-Jamal Warner of The Cosby Show fame) receives phone calls from kids complaining about how some things that happened on the show couldn't happen in real life.

After the last Magic School Bus book was released, Cole and Degan 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.

Characters

Ms. Frizzle's class was originally larger in the books than the class on the television series. In the original books, Ms. Frizzle's class consisted of Tim, Arnold, Ralph (changed to "Ralphie" on the show and later books in this series), Dorothy Ann, Wanda, Alex, Amanda Jane, Micah, Amy, Rachel, Gregory, Florrie, Carmen, Michael, Phil, Molly, Shirley and John. Phoebe was first introduced in the 1987 book, The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body, 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 Classic Series

For more informatin on this see "Magic School Bus Merchandise" link above.

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

The TV Series

1. KICKS UP A STORM: A Book About Weather
2. GETS PROGRAMMED: A Book About Computers
3. SEES STARS: A Book About Stars
4. ANSWERS QUESTIONS: A Book of Questions and Answers
5. IN THE HAUNTED MUSEUM: A Book About Sound
6. HOPS HOME: A Book About Animal Habitats
7. PLANTS SEEDS: A Book About How Living Things Grow
8. GETS BAKED IN A CAKE: A Book About Kitchen Chemistry
9. INSIDE RALPHIE: A Book About Germs
10. MEETS THE ROT SQUAD: A Book About Decomposition
11. BLOWS ITS TOP: A Book About Volcanoes
12. GETS EATEN: A Book About Food Chains
13. GETS ALL DRIED UP: A Book About Deserts
14. GETS ANTS IN ITS PANTS: A Book About Ants
15. WET ALL OVER: A Book About the Water Cycle
16. BUTTERFLY AND THE BOG BEAST: A Book About Butterfly Camouflage
17. GOING BATTY: A Book About Bats
18. OUT OF THIS WORLD: A Book About Space Rocks
19. UPS AND DOWNS: A Book About Floating and Sinking
20. SHOWS AND TELLS: A Book About Archaeology
21. GETS PLANTED: A Book About Photosynthesis
22. GOES UPSTREAM: A Book About Salmon Migration
23. TAKING FLIGHT: A Book About Flight
24. SPINS A WEB: A Book About Spiders
25. MAKES A RAINBOW: A Book About Color
26. GETS COLD FEET: A Book About Warm- and Cold-Blooded Animals
27. IN A PICKLE: A Book About Microbes
28. PLAYS BALL: A Book About Forces
29. IN THE ARCTIC: A Book About Heat
30. TAKES A DIVE: A Book About Coral Reefs
31. GETS A BRIGHT IDEA: A Book About Light

Liz Books

1. LIZ FINDS A FRIEND
2. LIZ TAKES FLIGHT
3. Liz Finds a Friend
4. Liz Takes Flight
5. Liz Looks for a Home
6. Liz Sorts It Out
7. Liz on the Move
8. Liz Makes a Rainbow

External links

• Official site