The Magic School Bus-Lost in the Solar System
Author: Joanna Cole
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Copyright: 1990
Pages: 29
Reading Level: 3
Genre: Picture Book/Science
Rating: ****

Summary:
Ms. Frizzle or as her students call her, the Friz, is not your average school teacher. A usual day in Ms. Frizzle’s class includes a field trip, and not just any field trip but one on the magic school bus. On this trip of the magic school bus the class is taken into outer space to learn all about the solar system. They learn about the order of the planets, gravity, what planets have rings and so on. As they travel to each planet and the moon they learn something new, but not only do they learn, we the reader learns too. Finally though, after an adventurous day, they finally get Ms.Frizzle back onto the bus and she drives them back to planet earth, through the atmosphere and back to school. Once back in the classroom they make charts about the planets and solar system replicas. Now if only people would believe the field trip they went on.

Who would benefit from reading this?
This book is meant more for younger kids, but I think it is good for any of us. There are so many magic school bus book, and on so many different subjects. They are very educational and teach you a lot! Great books to read to your kids, they will stay interested but also learn a lot!

Potential problems/conflicts:
This may have too much going on for some kids because there is not only the story text, but also commentary going on between the students. I cannot see any other problems though; there is no violence, language, or anything promiscuous.

My reaction:
I love Ms. Frizzle. I remember watching the TV show as a kid. Little did I realize how much I was learning. As I was reading this book, I realized how much I didn’t know about the solar system, for example the names of the two moons on Mars are Phobos which is 18 miles long and Deimos which is 9 miles long. This book is full of facts and has a ton to learn, but it is all put into such a fun story that you hardly realize you are learning. This book makes learning fun. I would highly recommend the magical school bus books, or even shows to all parents and teachers out there.