The Magic School Bus Sees Stars: A Book About Stars

Magic School Bus TV Tie-Ins

by Joanna Cole, Nancy White, Art Ruiz (Illustrator)

A book about stars, from the animated television series on the Learning Channel.

Genres: Science, Childrens, Picture Books, Space, Astronomy, Nonfiction, School

32 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Joanna Cole, who also wrote under the pseudonym B. J. Barnet, was an author of children’s books who teaches science.

She is most famous as the author of The Magic School Bus series of children's books. Joanna Cole wrote over 250 books ranging from her first book Cockroach to her famous series Magic School Bus.

Cole was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby East Orange. She loved science as a child, and had a teacher she says was a little like Ms. Frizzle. She attended the University of Massachusetts and Indiana University before graduating from the City College of New York with a B.A. in psychology. After some graduate education courses, she spent a year as a librarian in a Brooklyn elementary school. Cole subsequently became a letters correspondent at Newsweek, and then a senior editor for Doubleday Books for Young Readers.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

My generic review of the Magic School Bus books -

We really love the series. This book doesn't have all the cartoony dialouge asides that the earlier books have. There are maybe a comment or two per page instead of full conversations. Some people hate that; I think I prefer it. The page is less busy.


These books clearly explain a certain topic. There are often additional activities at the end of the book for further learning.

We read these for 'fun' during picture book time and we read them when learning about a certain subject.

Most of the books have movies which correspond. We've enjoyed those as well.

[Lucia Benzor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to use this book in my stars lesson but it just didn't have the info I was looking for. It defines stars, shows different sizes, but doesn't go into color or why we can't see them during the day or even why they twinkle. Still, it has a place in the science center.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

don't be bossy and be honest

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved watching this TV show as a kid. I feel like I learned so much from the books and the show!

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I absolutely love the original Magic School Bus books written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen, this one was actually based on one of the tv episodes and not written or illustrated by the original people. And boy, does it show! Where Cole could make the rides they took on the bus seem logical even if obviously make believe, this one just was clearly made up with no logic to it. The science was rather fuzzy too. Where the original often had “essays” written by the kids presenting info, that was left out completely. Definitely not reading more of the tv based series. Not recommended.

[Set · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is based on the show, it's obviously not as good as the original books but it's still entertaining. It's not as detailed and informative, leaving out a lot of information but it still instills interest in science for children.

[Alexis Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children will love being able to imagine that they are in space while learning about stars.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magic School Bus takes the children on a space adventure of star exploration to choose one to buy. Great science information included.

[K Morlando · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love the Magic School Bus series. These books are so informative and visually appealing for readers of all ages.

[Ethan Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining with information.

[Scarlett Mirano · Rating 4 out of 5]

How sweet that they bought DA a star!

[Courtney Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one fabulous and very informing read. In this story, Ms. Frizzle takes her classmates to outer space to help them find out all about the stars. The classmates find it hard to believe that stars can be so old but discover that even a star that is two million years old is still a very young star. While they are in space, Horace Cope, the tv star, helps to lead them through their adventure with Ms. Frizzle. They discuss the gas and dust in the air as well as the age of some of the other stars and how long it would take to reach them. In the end, they end up buying a star for D.A. and name it after her. Then, they watch the star explode and share what happens when one explodes; another is born. Afterwards, they return to school and share with Dorothy Ann what happened.
I would recommend this book for second and third graders because the content is very informative and would be useful in using them to help with lessons. The vocabulary can be understood by this age level as well as the content.
The illustrations in this book, by Bruce Degan, are wonderful. They are very bright, colorful drawings that show a lot about the information in the book and help to understand the content.
I gave this book four stars because it was a fun book to read and was helpful in learning about the stars in the sky.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've read so many of the stories in the Magic School Bus series - and our girls have loved them all. Sometimes they can be a bit of a pain to read aloud, especially if there is a lot of dialogue or extraneous notes, but we still enjoy reading them together and they are so interesting that it makes science fun. I love that! In this story, we learn a bit about stars. And while it's just a tiny fraction of the information available about stars, it helps to reinforce what they've already learned (for example, that the sun is a star) and it expands their knowledge about how stars are formed and how far away they are. We really enjoyed this story and will continue to search out the few remaining books in the series we have not yet read.

[Makayla Hubble · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Magic School Bus Sees Stars is such a cute and interesting book. I loved reading it when I was a child in school, and still enjoyed it 15 years later. Ms. Frizzle and her class take a journey into space to see stars after some class mates decided they wanted to see what a star looked like up close. They wanted to do this because they saw an add on television that was selling stars for just seven dollars and they needed to buy their friend, Dorothy Anne a present. After they went and visited the star they potentially wanted to buy they learn that it had been sold, they then decide on buying a red supergiant star! After buying it the star explodes, and the class learns about star age and rebirth of stars. I highly recommend this book by Joanna Cole. It is a must have in an Elementary classroom and in the library.

[Nivi Krishnakumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book to do a character study in. Since there are many Magic School bus books, you can use these books as an introduction to many different scientific concepts. This book would be a great book to introduce stars and what consists inside a star. This book can be used in any grade level.

[Little Miss and the Legomeister · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Magic School Bus books. I've read quite a few over the years. Legomeister loved them a couple of years ago. He still checks them out sometimes, but he doesn't ask me to read them to him anymore. Now it's Little Miss who requests them.

In this one, the Magic School Bus kids decided to buy a star, and visit them to decide which one they should get.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Ann (D.A.) isn't at school today, even though it's her birthday! The children and Ms. Frizzle struggle to figure out what to give her and finally decide upon a star. Off they zoom into space to learn about all the different kinds of stars and how they are formed.

Great illustrations.

[Amy Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magic School Bus book series are great double duty books that work in literacy and in science! The Magic School Bus Sees Stars explores stars in a kid friendly writing. Common reading strategies like predicting, doing a picture walk, inferring etc. can all be incorporated in this book.

[Cws]

JEAR3-Col

[Dahl Kids · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm rating all the Magic School Bus series. We've read these for years. I love the fun way they teach the girls different science concepts. Great vocabulary expanders.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

explore space with this science supplements for the classroom

[Andrea Spurling · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the magic school Bus books are great. I like reading the book and then watching the movie. These are great children's books.

[Chelsea Bucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade 4. Teaches students to recognize star characteristics and star patterns.

[Amanda Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to teach about stars in 3-5. It has great content about defining the stars and what they look like.

[BookeryBliss · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Magic School Bus books are educational in a cute and fun way. My kids get hooked on them over and over again.

[Julia Jasztal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked everything about this book.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to use in a space unit

[Tammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stars
Space
Dust, air
Star explosion and birth of
Grades2-5

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

1 copy

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not one of her better books, but nice supplement for our space unit.