The Great Shark Escape

The Magic School Bus Science Chapter Books #7

by Jennifer Johnston, Ted Enik (Illustrator), Joanna Cole (Series Creator)

A class trip to the aquarium winds up in the depths of the ocean as Ms. Frizzle's class must escape the jaws of a great white shark! During their adventure, Ms. Frizzle teaches the class about different shark species, including the goblin shark, angel shark, whale shark, and others.

Genres: Science, Chapter Books, Childrens, Animals, Middle Grade, Nonfiction, Picture Books

86 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ms. Frizzle the vampire promises her class a normal field trip to the local aquarium only to find that it is closed for repairs. What to do? Of course, transform the bus, endanger the students and take them on a deep sea adventure!

The facts presented in this book are almost identical to Cole's older book, Hungry, Hungry Sharks except now they are dressed up in the trappings of The Magic School Bus. I wouldn't have noticed the similarities if I hadn't read the books back to back.

Both books teach about the different types of sharks. Hungry, Hungry Sharks is presented as a straight up reference book aimed at a first grade reading level. The Magic School Bus book presents the same facts as a fantasy adventure. My son likes both books. He can read Hungry, Hungry Sharks without needing much help but prefers to listen to The Magic School Bus: The Great Shark Escape during story time at school.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Arnold escapes from a Goblin shark. The magic school bus traveled inside a Tiger shark. I liked the part when the class saw all the bones inside the Tiger shark's stomach. The smallest shark in the world is the Pygmie shark. It will fit in the palm of your hand! The fastest shark in the world is the Lemon shark. It is called a Lemon shark because of the deep yellow color on it's stomach. I liked the part when they escaped from the Great White shark. The escaped by hooking up to another shark that was jumping in and out of the water.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my son at bedtime last week. He loved it! The Magic School Bus books are terrific at combining the fun of fiction with facts about the topic. I've read many of the Magic School Bus "picture books" but had never read one of the chapter books. I'll definitely be picking up more of these.

[Ivanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting of this book is in the ocean. The main characters in this book are Ms. Frizzle, Mr. Hill, and of course Ms. Frizzle's class, which are Ralphie, Phoebe, Wanda, Tim, Keesha, Arnold, Dorothy Ann, and Carlos. This book is about sharks, Ms. Frizzle wants her class to do a report about animals in the ocean. Instead, Arnold was planning to write about a plant in the ocean called kelp, but the report had to be about animals in the ocean. Now he didn't know what to write for his report. Ms. Frizzle was late, because she went to pickup some mail for the class, not to long after she arrived. When Arnold saw her dress he new something was going on, something like a field trip ! Everyone Go's in the bus. Today they are going to meet someone named Mr. Hill. Mr. Hill works at an aquarium, but today something went wrong. The dolphins were playing with a ball, but somehow it got into something that made the building flood! All of the animals are okay, but now no one can look at the animals and neither can Ms. Frizzle's class. But its okay, because while every body else helps clean up, Ms. Frizzle has a plan! But first she picks up Mr. Hill, and then that's when they start the drive, or should I say subbing. That's when the fieldtrip begins! They all learn about different types of sharks. Like the tiger shark, that basically eats every thing! Any way, Ms. Frizzle has everybody do a report. Everyone does a report, but Arnold is the only one that hasn't. He still hasn't found a subject for his report. But in the end he finds a sea animal-called remoras (a sucker fish) that the class learned about. He use's it for his report. Arnold also save's the day yay! I recommend this book because it helps you learn a few things about sharks, and if you want to learn about sharks, this is a good book to start.

[Skyla Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Frizzle, as always, has decided to take the kids on a field trip, but not just any ordinary field. Her plans to take the class to the aquarium go south after and attraction floods the entire aquarium. So there is nothing else to do but go straight to the ocean for inspiration instead. since her class is working on reports on ocean life Ms. Frizzle thinks this is the best option to help all her students pick a topic. they travel through the ocean in the Magic School Sub and see many different shark species and animals along the way. they go through many dangerous and scary interacts with the sea life, but make it out ok in the end.
These books are great for beginner/intermediate readers because it has short chapters and also some pictures along the way as well. Something else I love about these book are how informative they are. They not only give you the information presented through the text but through the "pictures" they give you so much more information from Ms. Frizzle's class. Not just this book, but all of the books in The Magic School Bus series are absolutely fantastic and are nothing short of remarkable. They have turn nonfiction into daring adventures and made a fabulous and exciting way for teachers to teach students about science. I know whenever I read one of these books, whether it be the picture books or the chapter books, I am in for not only a treat but an adventure.

[Madison Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because it's fun and thrilling for kids and has a lot of sea animals and marine facts. Also, I liked how the book incorporated students' reports on sharks and other sea creatures. I would use this book in my classroom for the literacy center. Students can create their own scenarios, draw their favorite shark, do hands-on activities to help them better understand the book and make it more fun and engaging.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting facts for kids about sharks set in the familiar magic bus. A little tricky for non native readers of the age this is targeting but perhaps worth a try for the stronger ESL learners in the class.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this book will make for a great teacher read aloud for my upcoming ocean unit. It is filled with facts about sharks but slso has a fun story line too about a class going on a field trip with their teacher Ms. Frizzle.

[Brianna Wheelock]

If students liked magic school bus tv show they would be drawn to this book. It could also make the student want to read the rest of the magic school bus chapter books.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

My nephew loves sharks and this book might be too basic. It does go into good details about sharks, but more for someone who hasn't been obsessed with and researched sharks.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super great book

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Fizzle. What an icon

[K.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

K really liked this book.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when the shark brought the submarine near to shore because it rescued everyone. The worst part was when they were almost eaten by a shark and stung by a stingray. My favorite character was ms.frizzle because she was the teacher. There was no worst character.
In this book I learned that there are may types of sharks, like lemon sharks, great white sharks, tiger sharaks, hammerhead sharks, spiny dogfish sharks, and whale sharks. Most sharks only eat people when the sharks are bothered. Some are very dangerous like great white sharks and bull sharks. Remoras have suction cup things on them and ride on sharks. There are very few remoras eaten by sharks. In a year less than 100 people are eaten by sharks. Auryn 10 years old
2014

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've read all of the Magic School Bus picture-books that we can find and now we're working our way through the Magic School Bus chapter books too. We just love the Friz and her class; the characters feel like old friends to us.

This story takes us to the ocean to see several types of sharks. It has a lot of factual information about the different sizes, food sources and areas where various sharks live. There's a lot of excitement and danger in this tale and we enjoyed reading it together.

[Madison Lakey]

Mrs. Frizzle told her class that they were going to study sea animals. Some of the students had a hard time deciding on a topic, so they all went to the aquarium. When they got there, the aquarium had flooded! The Magic School Bus took Mrs. Frizzle and her class to the ocean. They learned about all different species of sharks, and they had adventures with some of the sharks. This book would be really good to use if your class was going to the aquarium. You could read the book to your students and then go to the aquarium. After the trip students could then pick out what their favorite sea animal was and then have them do a short report on their animal.

[Alison Durbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a lot of fun for me, and I can only imagine what fun children would have reading this book. I love how the information was presented in a conversational way and not just spewed everywhere on the page. I also liked how the reader could read snip-its of the students essays for additional information about sharks. I think this would be a great informational text for children to read. Who doesn't like the Magic School Bus!?

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I love about Magic School Bus is that children of all age (and even adults) can learn something new by either watching the movies or reading the books. For example, this story was an awesome read because not only did it have an adventurous plot, but I was able to learn new facts about ocean animals that I had never known before. I think The Magic School Bus books should always be a part of a classroom library because they are educational, fun stories that children can connect with easily.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5

This one is a bit difficult for me to review and rate because while I enjoyed all the great information, Arnold is by far the most annoying character. I don't understand how anyone could be so whiny in Ms. Frizzle's class with all the amazing adventures they go on. And because he was telling the story, it was just a little too whiny for me.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent and my grandchildren just loved it. They are always wanting to read The Magic School Bus Chapter books! The Great Shark Escape held their attention and they also learnt a lot! These books teach children while being entertaining! I would recommend this book to all children who want to have fun learning!

[Sophie_M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really interesting. It tells me a lot about sharks, fish and other underwater species. The magic school bus books always make reading fun for me. I would suggest this book for year 3 and up.

[Elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my 9 year old son. I gave it 5 stars since he said he loved it. I wished we were reading something better and like the Magic School Bus picture books better than the chapter books, I guess. We learned a lot about sharks today!

[Rohmah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cara yang asyik dan mudah belajar sains buat anak-anak.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 4 year old loves these chapter books. He really enjoyed this one.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Magic School Bus Chapter Books are not very interesting or well written. Their only redeeming quality is getting kids who like Magic School Bus picture books weaned off of them.

[Jaden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about Goblin Sharks.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it because I like to read and I like science. I learned that rays are sharks.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Great Shark Escape (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book, #7)
Johnston, Jennifer
science supplementary material for the classroom to teach children about the ocean

[Krishna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arnold was never THAT brave!

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool book! :)