The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells: A Book About Archaeology

by Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen (Illustrator)

During a Show and Tell contest, Arnold brings in a strange old object that nobody can identify but about which everyone makes wild guesses, and a trip on the Magic School Bus takes them on an archaeological dig. Original.

Genres: Science, Childrens, Picture Books, Archaeology, History

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually a rather clever book, although the clever bit is at the end, after a lot of (seemingly useless) nonsense, as it explains how archaeology is a bit of a guessing game.

[Faterider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children start learning Science when they become third graders in my country. I cannot help feeling that this is a great book to induct them into Science, for archaeology is a lot like science. The process of studying things, making observations and forming as well as testing hypotheses is an analytical and rigorous process well expounded in this book. I intend to pass it to one of my pupils. (Yes, I work as a third-grade teacher.)

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's Magic School Bus. I'm nostalgic. Honestly, though, the book wasn't all that good. You kinda had to have seen the episode to really get the full impact of the book, and that weakens it, in my opinion. It's also long for kiddos to sit through. Still, as part of a discussion on archaeology, it's a keeper.

[Tammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best series
Look for visors
Archeology
Good vocab
Gr2-4