The Magic School Bus Explores Human Evolution

The Magic School Bus #13

by Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen (Illustrations)

When Arnold wishes he had more information for his family tree, Ms. Frizzle revs up the Magic School Bus and the class zooms back to prehistoric times. First stop: 3.5 billion years ago!

There aren't any people around to ask for directions. Luckily Ms. Frizzle has a plan, and the class is right there to watch simple cells become sponges and then fish and dinosaurs, then mammals and early primates and, eventually, modern humans. It's the longest class trip ever!

This is the story of a species, of our species, as only Ms. Frizzle can tell it. Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen tackle this essential topic with the insight and humor that have made the Magic School Bus the bestselling science series of all time.

Hop on board for a class trip that spans billions of lifetimes!

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Science, Juvenile, History, Evolution

56 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2021

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

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most recent book in the classic Magic School Bus series has Ms. Frizzle and her class explore the subject of human evolution. When Arnold is unable to track much information for his family tree assignment, the Friz decides it was a perfect opportunity to go on a field trip that would go back in time to the earlies ancestor of all life on Earth. Starting back into the state of a simple cell, the class fast forward billions of years to see the evolution of said cell as it became more complex and started to form some of the Earth's first organisms before becoming more recognizable of current species. Through it all, the kids learned that while humans are very different from other animals, they share many of the same traits with other species, both in the now and in the past. In which, just how complex the family tree is shown as the kids end up trying to patch all the relation of all Earth's known organisms together into one diagram!

Cole & Degen have done it again in making science a fun learning and reading experience with the Magic School Bus series! Since the very first book, they included numerous scientific facts and little annotations made by the characters to present the subject in an easy read manner for children to comprehend. Though since evolution is a rather complex subject to introduce in a simple manner, the text felt a little more detailed and informational more so than previous books, which is not too bad either! It also keeps the charms that the duo had made throughout the series, with accurate detailing and giving the children equal screen time on the pages. Surprisingly, the bus barely made much of an appearance in this one. With the unfortunate passing of Joanna Cole, this, sadly, may be the last book ever to be released with Ms. Frizzle and her beloved class, but it succeeds in bringing young readers the necessary comprehension to understand what evolution is. And as both a lifetime fan of the TV show and the books, I applaud this book as one of the best reading field trips to have taken on!

[Zachariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to thank this book for teaching me more about evolution than four years of Christian high school.

[Aneesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this would be helpful because 5yo asks me to explain evolution regularly. But how does this book not mention genetic mutation?!

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is PACKED with information, yet my 4&6 year olds were captivated the entire time. Ms Frizzle and the class travel through time to explore evolution, from single cell organisms of billions of years ago, all the way to the present day. The book is hefty and takes awhile to read through but it’s all very interesting. It is set up like the original magic school bus books from before the show, with the little reports by students to help explain vocabulary and key concepts, as well as the humorous little comic style word bubbles within the illustrations. Also a fun added element was searching for the bus on each page!

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this and had to read it. I imagine someone will have issues with this. I even looked to see if it had been banned or challenged somewhere but I didn't see anything. I'm surprised because it had pictures of early man with no clothes on and an early woman who looked like she was breastfeeding a baby. OMG! I know!

I thought it was a great book that showed how life on earth has evolved over time and had lots of information. I learned a few things too. I might even have to read more of The Magic School Bus.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the last to be published in the popular The Magic School Bus series and it's awesome. I'm a big fan of most picture books about evolution and this title makes the topic super accessible. The book, especially the chart at the end, beautifully illustrates the theory of common descent, how all living creatures on Earth are connected and are actually in the same family tree.

[Ellon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember loving Magic School Bus as a child but it's been a long time since I've read any of the books. I forgot how packed they are with information. At times, this makes it feel a little intimidating. But overall, the book does an excellent job of explaining the concept of evolution in a way that is understandable for young readers!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cole brings Ms. Frizzle back to explore how life began. The class takes a trip back to the first singular cell and then comes forward through time to our current beings. Plenty of information shared in the sidebar notes and pictures along with the text itself. The illustrations support the text and provide further explanations and examples.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of this via Hoopla as a palette cleanser from some denser audiobooks and it was the kind of fun I missed from the Magic School Bus series when I read them way back when. This one took the kids on the adventures of human evolution in short bits and spurts with a full caste of students and the lovely teacher we all are entertained and inspired by: Ms. Frizzle.

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic Magic School Bus nonfiction picture book all about evolution!
Ms. Frizz's class is learning all about family trees but Arnold doesn't do very well with his, so the entire class goes on a field trip to learn about their earliest ancestors!

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as an audiobook

I think this was one of my favorite Magic School Bus books I read today. It explains human evolution with just enough scientific language for children (and a general reader) to understand. This book in particular was especially fun to listen to.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have most of the Magic School Bus books and I’m so glad this came out. My youngest has been really curious about where people came from. This book does a great job of explaining our the emergence of life and our evolutionary journey.

[Sahil Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review from my 6 year old: In this interesting and exciting book the children go to a new world of our ancestors. They go back in time in their magic school bus and discover the history of human beings. The children and me discovered that the earliest living creatures were tiny cells.

[Set · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hilarious how educators give out this information as fact instead of theory. You are not fooled if you study anthropology and ethnology in college. I believe in micro-evolution or adaptation but not in Macro-evolution. Sorry, the fish and squirrels are not our cousins.

[Rachel B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to discover that Cole & Degen are still at work on new books in this series. What a wonderful find!

[kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

super solid, I found it interesting and informative myself, and my rising first grader was totally into it too

[Sandra Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual there's a lot of content, fun side bars and funny characters. No matter the adventure, we all do secretly wish we had our very own Ms.Frizzle!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.
Henry's first Magic School Bus Book and we read it over and over.
Some fun facts in the back that I didn't know. :D

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 4yo was captivated!

[Villain E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense, but presents the facts in a reasonably entertaining way. Starts all the way back at single-celled organisms leading up to Homo Sapiens.

[Yujin · Rating 3 out of 5]

t's very educational! I was able to explore all aspects of human evolution.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Frizzle and her class explore human evolution on the magic school bus. Another great installment in the Magic School Bus series teaching science.

[Shannon]

Read for 2025 reading challenge.

[Miranda Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this was impressive. The depth and breadth. They were working overtime!