What do you think?
Rate this book
Nonfiction Companion to the Original Magic School Bus Series
The Magic School Bus Presents: The Rainforest: A Nonfiction Companion to the Original Magic School Bus Series
THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS PRESENTS THE RAINFOREST stars Ms. Frizzle and her class and explores the plants and animals of our planet's rainforests.
The bestselling Magic School Bus series has taught thousands of kids about everything from oceans to space to dinosaurs. MAGIC SCHOOL BUS PRESENTS THE RAINFOREST will expand upon the original titles with fresh and updated content about all of the incredible plants and animals that live in the world's rainforests. With vivid full-color photographs on each page as well as illustrations of the beloved Ms. Frizzle and her students, the Magic School Bus Presents series will enthrall a whole new generation of Magic School Bus readers.
The bestselling Magic School Bus series has taught thousands of kids about everything from oceans to space to dinosaurs. MAGIC SCHOOL BUS PRESENTS THE RAINFOREST will expand upon the original titles with fresh and updated content about all of the incredible plants and animals that live in the world's rainforests. With vivid full-color photographs on each page as well as illustrations of the beloved Ms. Frizzle and her students, the Magic School Bus Presents series will enthrall a whole new generation of Magic School Bus readers.
37 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 30, 2014
19 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Tom Jackson
650 books58 followers"I'm a non-fiction author and project editor (plus I do a bit of journalism). I'm available for project development, writing, project management and I also work as a packager. Click on the links above to see examples of my work.
But first some background: Over the last 20 years, I've written books, magazine and newspaper articles, for online and for television. I get to write about a wide range of subjects, everything from axolotls to zoroastrianism. However, my specialties are natural history, technology and all things scientific. I've worked on projects with Brian May, Patrick Moore, Marcus de Sautoy and Carol Vorderman and for major international publishers, such as Dorling Kindersley, National Geographic, Scholastic, Hachette, Facts on File and BBC Magazines.
I spend my days finding fun ways of communicating all kinds of facts, new and old, to every age group and reading ability. I live in Bristol, England, with my wife and three children. I studied zoology at Bristol University and have had spells working at the zoos in Jersey and Surrey. I used to be something of a conservationist, which included planting trees in Somerset, surveying Vietnamese jungle and rescuing buffaloes from drought-ridden Zimbabwe. Writing jobs have also taken me to the Galápagos Islands, the Amazon rainforest, the coral reefs of Indonesia and the Sahara Desert. Nowadays, I can be found mainly in the attic."
~http://tomjackson.weebly.com/
But first some background: Over the last 20 years, I've written books, magazine and newspaper articles, for online and for television. I get to write about a wide range of subjects, everything from axolotls to zoroastrianism. However, my specialties are natural history, technology and all things scientific. I've worked on projects with Brian May, Patrick Moore, Marcus de Sautoy and Carol Vorderman and for major international publishers, such as Dorling Kindersley, National Geographic, Scholastic, Hachette, Facts on File and BBC Magazines.
I spend my days finding fun ways of communicating all kinds of facts, new and old, to every age group and reading ability. I live in Bristol, England, with my wife and three children. I studied zoology at Bristol University and have had spells working at the zoos in Jersey and Surrey. I used to be something of a conservationist, which included planting trees in Somerset, surveying Vietnamese jungle and rescuing buffaloes from drought-ridden Zimbabwe. Writing jobs have also taken me to the Galápagos Islands, the Amazon rainforest, the coral reefs of Indonesia and the Sahara Desert. Nowadays, I can be found mainly in the attic."
~http://tomjackson.weebly.com/
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 13, 2015
The Rain Forest is one of a new series of nonfiction companion books for the fictional Magic School Bus books. This primary picture book is excellent to use as a read aloud story for a habitat or text feature unit. The photographs and illustrations on each page are very interesting and support the text. The amount of text on each page is very appropriate for reading aloud and is arranged into sections. Fizzle Facts are found at the bottom corner on many pages, as are notebook paper boxes showing information as if the children from the Magic School Bus series were sharing a report with the reader. This creates interest for the reader and helps the reader organize information in their head. The Rain Forest shares a lot of information about this important disappearing habitat.
My opening for The Rain Forest would be, “Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk among the top of jungle trees, or see a flower that is so big you could sit in the middle of it? What do you think you may see in the trees if you were up in the branches? Close your eyes and picture what you may see, hear, feel, taste. (Allow children time to imagine and then time to share with each other). I see you have all become very good at visualizing things. Today, I am going to share a book called, The Rain Forest, with you. It was written by Tom Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. You will notice something very familiar about it. It is a new kind of Magic School Bus book. Has anyone here ever read a Magic School Bus book? (Children raise hands, choose one and ask them to tell the class what they thought about the book). Was it a fiction or nonfiction book? (Students answer). How did you know? (Students explain). Did you read the entire book, or mainly just look at the pictures. Why? (Students answer). Well, you will notice that these books are nonfiction, and they contain less text than the other Magic School Bus books you have read. You will also notice there is a lot of information about a rain forest habitat, and I would like you to make sure you can describe a rain forest habitat when we are done. Oh, and when you see an old Magic School Bus friend on the page, I would like you to give me a thumbs up! Be able to tell me what is special about how the author and illustrator arranged the text in this book. Are you ready to go to the rain forest?”
My first opening move was to raise interest and access background knowledge by having the students wonder what it would be like to be in the top branches of a rainforest, or jungle. By having them close their eyes and visualize what they see, hear, feel and taste their curiosity will also be sparked. When I asked children to share their knowledge of other Magic School Bus books they make connections to previously read text, which will help them to understand this book. I then cued students to notice details about the rainforest and the text arrangement.
I chose this book for several reasons, not least of which was my excitement that Scholastic was publishing Magic School Bus books that were nonfiction companions to their wonderful fictional books. I also liked that most students would recognize the well-loved characters in this book, and would then pay closer attention and be more engaged. I really like how manageable the amount of text on each page is. I think introducing these new books will make it more likely that students will want to read them independently, as compared to the fictional Magic School Bus books, which have much more text on each page. This book fits in perfectly with the other books I have chosen for this text set. It describes the rain forest habitat and the animals in it. It also has interesting text features that make it readable and interesting. I can use this book to teach language arts and meet my science habitat objectives, which makes this book as useful as the others in this text set.
My opening for The Rain Forest would be, “Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk among the top of jungle trees, or see a flower that is so big you could sit in the middle of it? What do you think you may see in the trees if you were up in the branches? Close your eyes and picture what you may see, hear, feel, taste. (Allow children time to imagine and then time to share with each other). I see you have all become very good at visualizing things. Today, I am going to share a book called, The Rain Forest, with you. It was written by Tom Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. You will notice something very familiar about it. It is a new kind of Magic School Bus book. Has anyone here ever read a Magic School Bus book? (Children raise hands, choose one and ask them to tell the class what they thought about the book). Was it a fiction or nonfiction book? (Students answer). How did you know? (Students explain). Did you read the entire book, or mainly just look at the pictures. Why? (Students answer). Well, you will notice that these books are nonfiction, and they contain less text than the other Magic School Bus books you have read. You will also notice there is a lot of information about a rain forest habitat, and I would like you to make sure you can describe a rain forest habitat when we are done. Oh, and when you see an old Magic School Bus friend on the page, I would like you to give me a thumbs up! Be able to tell me what is special about how the author and illustrator arranged the text in this book. Are you ready to go to the rain forest?”
My first opening move was to raise interest and access background knowledge by having the students wonder what it would be like to be in the top branches of a rainforest, or jungle. By having them close their eyes and visualize what they see, hear, feel and taste their curiosity will also be sparked. When I asked children to share their knowledge of other Magic School Bus books they make connections to previously read text, which will help them to understand this book. I then cued students to notice details about the rainforest and the text arrangement.
I chose this book for several reasons, not least of which was my excitement that Scholastic was publishing Magic School Bus books that were nonfiction companions to their wonderful fictional books. I also liked that most students would recognize the well-loved characters in this book, and would then pay closer attention and be more engaged. I really like how manageable the amount of text on each page is. I think introducing these new books will make it more likely that students will want to read them independently, as compared to the fictional Magic School Bus books, which have much more text on each page. This book fits in perfectly with the other books I have chosen for this text set. It describes the rain forest habitat and the animals in it. It also has interesting text features that make it readable and interesting. I can use this book to teach language arts and meet my science habitat objectives, which makes this book as useful as the others in this text set.
November 27, 2017
I think my favorite part of this book was the contrast of the awesome real-life photos of the rain forest compared to the vintage looking illustrations of Mrs. Frizzle and her class. It was fact mixed with nostalgia of the MSB I grew up reading/watching.
August 19, 2020
We love the Magic School Bus series. These books are so informative and visually appealing for readers of all ages.
October 5, 2016
The Magic School Bus Presents: The Rainforest! This book was really cool! I enjoyed the pictures and how this book depicts the rain forests. I believe children will like this book because it is colorful and fun. It is very informative about the climate, weather, and animals that live in the rainforest. I enjoyed this book! This book can be used in the classroom to teach about the rainforest, the animals that live there, and the weather in the rainforest.
March 24, 2015
The Magic School Bus is off to the rain forest for another adventure in this reboot. As with the others, the crisp, clear photos fascinate. Art from the original installments pepper the pages as do the mini-reports and "new word" notification. I wish they were reissued in hc.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews