It’s not always easy to get kids interested in complicated or “nerdy” subjects that feel, you know, educational. While kids in the ‘80s loved books by Dr. Seuss and Beverly Cleary, which were great in teaching kids to be literary wordsmiths, there was a serious void in books that focused on getting kids into science. Scholastic, Inc. kept getting requests from teachers for books focused on science, so Craig Walker, who was the head of Scholastic at the time, decided it would be great to combine science curriculum with stories. Enter The Magic School Bus.
Walker remembered all of the school trips he had taken as a kid, and thought that would be a great place to start. Only, instead of going to museums, through books kids could “go” to the bottom of the ocean, through a water system, or deep inside the Earth, all places you can’t really visit in person. He then brought on science and humor author Joanna Cole, and illustrator Bruce Degen to bring his vision to life. Cole had a tough time getting into the groove at first, as the task of making a story both informative and fun was a bit daunting. But, soon enough she wrote the first book in the series, The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks, which released in 1986 and quickly became popular with readers around the world.
Ms. Frizzle, the teacher at the heart of The Magic School Bus series, was based on a few different people. Walker’s vision for Ms. Frizzle was based on a beloved, eccentric second-grade teacher from his childhood. Illustrator Degen and author Cole have both also cited a teacher from their respective childhoods as inspiring some of Ms. Frizzle’s numerous quirks. Ms. Frizzle’s name came from Cole, who dreamed it up on a rainy day as a combination of the words frizz and drizzle — drizzle for the rain, frizz for her own permed hair (how very ‘80s!).
The book series was so popular that it eventually expanded into an animated television series in 1994 called, would you guess, The Magic School Bus. The series lasted for four seasons on PBS, until 1997, for a total of 52 episodes. Little Richard performed the theme song, and Lily Tomlin was the voice of Ms. Frizzle. A sequel series aired on Netflix in 2017, but it only lasted for two seasons. Still, that hasn’t stopped the franchise from continuing on, with a film in development, and books still coming out to this day — the most recent book in the original series, The Magic School Bus Explores Human Evolution, released in June 2021.
If you want more to read than just the original line of 13 books, don’t worry, there are all kinds of spin-offs as well! Chapter books? Yep. Scholastic Reader Level 2 books? Of course. TV tie-in books? Duh. Nonfiction? You bet. Plus, if you check out the official website, you can download some printables or even try one of many different science experiments that are easy and fun for kids. If you want to get your kid into science, The Magic School Bus is there for you!
Were you a fan of The Magic School Bus? What’s your favorite Ms. Frizzle moment? Let us know in the comments! Also, if you’d like to share the love with the next generation (or just give yourself a nostalgia fix), check out some of our favorite books below. And, if you want to walk down memory lane a little bit longer, then check out our article about another favorite science edutainment option from the ’90s: Bill Nye the Science Guy: The Most Entertaining Educational TV Show of the ‘90s (and Ever?!)
- Joanna Cole, the author of The Magic School Bus books, passed away in July 2020. She wrote more than 250 books in her lifetime.
- The series has sold more than 93 million copies in 13 countries and won awards from the American Booksellers Association, the NEA Foundation, and others.
- Lily Tomlin won a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance as Ms. Frizzle in the animated television series. She has said people didn’t believe that she was the voice upon meeting her as Ms. Frizzle looked more like Bette Midler.
- Illustrator Bruce Degen based some of the students on real people — he specifically looked at old elementary school class photos. He’d pick out a kid whose outfit and hairdo he liked and convert them into a caricature.
- Typically, Cole would spend about six months researching the topic of the next book, then would take another six months putting the book together while Degen illustrated it at the same time.
- Joanna Cole, the author of The Magic School Bus books, passed away in July 2020. She wrote more than 250 books in her lifetime.
- The series has sold more than 93 million copies in 13 countries and won awards from the American Booksellers Association, the NEA Foundation, and others.
- Lily Tomlin won a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance as Ms. Frizzle in the animated television series. She has said people didn’t believe that she was the voice upon meeting her as Ms. Frizzle looked more like Bette Midler.
- Illustrator Bruce Degen based some of the students on real people — he specifically looked at old elementary school class photos. He’d pick out a kid whose outfit and hairdo he liked and convert them into a caricature.
- Typically, Cole would spend about six months researching the topic of the next book, then would take another six months putting the book together while Degen illustrated it at the same time.
