Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures (MSB)

by Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen (Illustrator)

In the second of MS. FRIZZLE'S ADVENTURES, the Friz travels back in time to a medieval castle -- and teaches readers all about the Middle Ages.

With her reluctant student, Arnold, the Friz slips through a mysterious trap door -- and ends up in the Middle Ages! There, they explore a medieval castle, meeting the people who live there and learning about everyday life within the castle walls. When the castle is threatened by invaders, Arnold and the Friz don chain mail to lead the defense. They repel the invaders just in the nick of time, then they joust and feast before returning to the 21st century. With their careful research and trademark wit, Cole and Degen introduce the many facets of medieval life.

Genres: History, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Medieval, Juvenile, Historical

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

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

[Set · Rating 1 out of 5]

I find it hilarious how they noted, "there we're castles all around the world, but Europe and England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales had the most castles." This is the kind of statement that would have confused me as a child and I would have learned that these places were separate from Europe. And aside from that, this information is not accurate because England had way less castles than MANY other places of Europe and even Russia and the middle East. This is just indoctrinating children to believe that England was supreme in Europe when in reality they were the poorest country and while they were pig herding, the rest of Europe such as Spain, Italy,and France were living in the lap of luxury.
There were a few terms and vocabulary words in this book that are medieval and children could learn from such as: scullions, bailey, porticullis, the high table, the garderobe, besiege, siege, constable and his garrison and a few other words. I don't understand why they didn't mention apprentices and instead choose a more modern word "helper".

[Brendan Aggeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a Magic School Bus spinoff where, while visiting a miniatures shop, the class gets a look at what life was really like in a medieval castle... during a siege. The book is very candid about medieval Europe and the problems the defenders face in a siege - the hunger, the crowding, the sanitation issues, the risk of death... It's very educational, and is tackled with the series' customary skill. It even avoids absolute morality with regards to the attackers and the defenders!

[Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up with The Magic School Bus so it was an absolute delight to come across a spin off in Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures!

The illustrations are SPECTACULAR and so nostalgic for me. I was also surprised at how informative the story and images were. I missed how much of a goof Arnold is and as usual, Ms. Frizzle has the BEST wardrobe and accessories. I thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading this to my nephew. So happy to have found this gem in a secondhand bookshop.

[Tiffany Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teaches many facts about the midieval castle's and the lives of those who worked and lived there. Many little facts given as small thoughts, conversation bubbles, etc so they do not become too overwhelming for young children. Fun bright artwork to help children really imagine what things were like in that time period.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

So yea finished this in an hour or so and for no other reason than that it is a large illustrated book to be entered in the non-fiction section but it is not fitting well and driving me crazy and as it was truly a bother to catalog I took it with me to read this weekend and determine if it was worth the hassle! Eh I love the Magic Schoolbus for sure and that crazy but cool dressing Ms Frizzle but this was a departure from the usual format as its basically just her and one lil kid (one of her favorites) finding their way into an adventure..I always learn so much from the Magic Schoolbus characters and the questions and lessons she imparts to the class and this one was no different and there are brilliant thought and fact boxes and comic strips to enforce learning with a silly and action story to entertain. I really feel these books do the trick of educating and intriguing readers to learn more I feel the pages are a little cluttered for a read-aloud aspect and I dont remember that difficulty when I read these years ago but it is a book that can be read and reread independently as there are some really cool little nuggets to learn from like the recount of the building of castles and their purpose, the description of the food eaten and the roles of all in the castle but yea aside from adding more pages to space out the information overload on each jampacked page and shortening the height of the book for normal size shelves LOL I dont have any complaints with the book and am always a Ms Frizzle fan she makes learning happen and though unbelievable is always entertaining.

[Pyrate Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic but fun look at life in the medieval times. Would make a wonderful companion to Magic Tree House's A KNIGHT BEFORE DAWN.

[K Morlando · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love the magic school bus series of books, they are very educational!

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Cute way to learn about medieval times

[Alexandra Beckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great information on the medieval period for readers age 6-10.

[Annabelle Kocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s confusing the order of the panels

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Frizzle and Arnold explore castles, jobs, attacks, and life in a castle during the Middle Ages.

New Mexico Social Studies Standards:

- Strand: History; Standard I; 5-8 Benchmark 1-A; Grade 6
- Strand: History; Standard I; 5-8 Benchmark 1-B; Grade 6
- Strand: History; Standard I; 5-8 Benchmark 1-C; Grade 6; 6
- Strand: Geography; Standard II; 5-8 Benchmark 2-B; Grade 6
- Strand: Geography; Standard II; 5-8 Benchmark 2-C; Grade 6
- Strand: Geography; Standard II; 5-8 Benchmark 2-E; Grade 6
- Strand: Geography; Standard II; 5-8 Benchmark 2-F; Grade 6
- Strand: Civics and Government; Standard III; 5-8 Benchmark 3-D; Grade 6
- Strand: Economics; Standard IV; 5-8 Benchmark 4-A; Grade 6
- Strand: Economics; Standard IV; 5-8 Benchmark 4-B; Grade 6
- Strand: Economics; Standard IV; 5-8 Benchmark 4-C; Grade 6

*Available at Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Libraries*

[CH _Kenya Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle, Ms Frizzle introduces students to the wonders and dangers of the middle ages. I've always enjoyed the Magic School Bus Stories and this one was no different. Ms. Frizzles takes a student back to the middle ages and before they are done they explore castles meeting Lords and Ladies, Peasants and Knights and explore the inside workings of castle life. They get attacked by invaders and Ms. Frizzle get the opportunity to show off her expertise with a sword. As usual the adventure with Ms. Frizzle is exciting and educational. After reading this book students learn a great deal about 12th century living and details about life in the middle ages. This book would be a great resource to the curriculum dealing with this topic even with older students.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We seem to be on a bit of a medieval kick right now, reading several stories about that period of time. It's nice to have a theme, although it was a bit by accident. Our girls enjoy the Magic School Bus stories immensely and these Ms. Frizzle adventures, though a bit of an off-shoot, are still very popular with them. So far each of her adventures have focused on a particular time period and place and they provide entertaining narratives, comic book-style illustrations, and a good amount of information, without being too boring. We take our time reading these books, ususally reading them over the course of several evenings and our girls are eager to read more.

[Kanani · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked this up to do some research on castles since so many of the books i read involve horses, kings and queens, warriors wielding maces and pikes and wearing bracers and such, living in castles. might be good to finally understand whats actually going on, right? and this book has pictures! it makes it fun. i compared the info in this book to another kids book on castles, and this one still has the pertinent information despite being a picture book. i guess theres something to be said about the magic school bus after all...

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our family and all of the kids have loved this book. It is goofy at points, but the humor keeps it moving. The story manages to interweave so many different layers and aspects of the Medieval time. Children of different ages and interests can find a reason to get hooked on this book, and the illustrations are delightful!

We kept checking it out from the library regularly in two different states over 5 years and when I finally decided we needed our own, it was out of print. Thank goodness for Amazon!

[AmyintheWind · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Frizzle books are always a favorite at our house, even though my daughter is now in Middle School. I appreciate the actual information in the book, even if I do find the characters tedious. I find that my daughter likes to read them because she likes studying the fact boxes, thought bubbles, and comic strip style stories all over the page...aside from the main written text of the story.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and informative. My young children understood the time travel background and learned much about castles and life in the Middle Ages. Nicely illustrated. I loved that the adventure was led by an intelligent and strong woman:)

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

They provide enough information to keep my 7 year old interested, and my 4 year old loves the illustrations. Perfect book for my boys to read together! The Magic School Bus books are great.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both girls loved this.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and informative! Thaddeus read it aloud to Benjamin and I.

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes:
the books in this series are visual/informational overload, but worth the time; we don't read them for their narrative quality; taking a few days to 'study' this book is necessary

[Jean-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun picture book. We read this to complement our Middle Ages history lesson about Castles.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a very informative book. my kids learned a lot from this book. I would recommend this book to others.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

science and social studies supplement to add to the classroom library

[Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's better than the magic school bus books.