The Magic School Bus Takes a Dive: A Book About Coral Reefs

Magic School Bus TV Tie-Ins

by Nancy White, Ted Enik (Illustrator), Bruce Degen (Illustrator)

With help from Red Beard's treasure map, Ms. Frizzle and her class discover the animals and plants of the coral reef and their symbiotic relationships. Original.

Genres: Science, Picture Books, Childrens, 1st Grade, Animals, Stem, School

32 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that captures kids attention and informs on the different living organisms in a Coral reef. It also have a moral about being a good partner in a project. The drawings are very nostalgic with wonderful colors.

[K Morlando · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Himanshu Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia really likes these Magic School Bus books. She likes the cartoons also but we don't catch those much, if they're even still on.
We both like that these books have little bits where the kids speak so while that makes for somewhat difficult reading and following at times, it does add something to the stories.
This one, Takes a Dive, is all about teamwork and Ms. Frizzle and the class are helping Wanda understand why teamwork is so important.
Julia especially loves the info included and I have to admit there's a good bit. We learned a decent amount of beginner info about sea anemone's and the like.
The illustrations are all the same in the different Magic School Bus books I've seen but they're not bad. Nothing exceptional of course but they serve their purpose. The story itself is the main event.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magic School Bus books have done absolutely wonderful things for children and their interest in science. Take a group of children, who become familiar/family, and a teacher that is unlike most teachers, and we bring the reader straight into a science project.

In this book, we go under water and learn about Coral Reefs. The book's author does a good job of combining a small plot, unique character traits, and just enough lesson that we enjoy learning something new, but not so much that we feel we're being lectured.

My children like for me to read the narrative portions, while they read the dialog and any sound effects that might be there.

I'm sur we all learned something new about coral reefs as well!

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting story and short enough to keep our girls' attention, but it has comic book-like dialogue that is easier to read silently than to read aloud. We've several of the books in the Magic School Bus picture book series and our girls love them. I prefer the Magic School Bus chapter books to read aloud to the girls, since they are easier to read aloud, with the dialogue incorporated smoothly into the narrative. Otherwise, it's a colorful and fun book that talks a lot about coral reefs and partnerships (or symbiosis).

[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.

[Chato]

Book Title: The Magic School Bus Takes a Dive
Author/Illustrator: Joanna Cole/Bruce Degen
Reading Level: 4.4
Book Level: k-3
Book summary: The is a very informative book about coral reefs for early elementary. The book is good for a student reading at the fourth grade level. The book is also a good mentor book to talk about the importance of using partners in school. The book gives details about how things in the ocean need each other to survive.
Writing traits used are ideas and voice. The voice is that of students on a field trip, fun for a student to read. This book is also written to give information not only of coral reefs, but how to behave everyday in a classroom.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sat down to read this (Like we've done with all the other Magic School Bus books)to my special needs teen age son. We have enjoyed the books and I like the fact you learn a little Science with the story etc. However this book is so jumbled with comic book type wise cracks you can't see the picturs very well because of the bubbles with the thoughts (words) etc. So it was boring for me to read and boring for my son to look at the pictures. I hate to give a Magic School Bus book a low rating but this book wasn't fun and in fact didn't finish it.

[Southernbelle0326 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a moral called teamwork. I picked up this book b/c my sister had got it from the library and I used to read the MAGIC SCHOOL BUS books but I didnt recall reading this one. Its a book about coral reefs and you can help your child learn about the animals under water. I would read it for my child.

[Lauren Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great for elaborating on different habitats and talking about sea animals. Names of sea animals who live in coral reefs are included and some are even described past the picture so the students can really grasp what they are like. The dialogue bubbles are easy to follow and add excitement to the pages.
Recommended grade levels: 1-5

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Frizzle and her class explore the coral reefs this time on their field trip. They transform into a variety of animals to learn more about the reef as well as working together.
Ms. Frizzle also has a treasure map from her greatx5 grandfather and the children as eager to find it.


Excellent illustrations.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot of scientific information, but the story line is so weird I don't like reading the book. It is not my old classic Magic School Bus books that I read when I was a kid.

[Meadow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the kind of "dive" I was expecting. I thought for sure it was about throwing SAT scores.

[Lita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun science book that teaches about coral reefs. This book also teaches about how teamwork can be beneficial to living things.

[Tammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coral reef
It's inhabitants
Underwater creatures
Team work
Gr2-4

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gripping!