The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses (1999)

Genre: Science Fiction
Genre Critique: This book is a good example of science fiction based on how it not only tells a story, but delivers factual information as well (information on the senses). The books ideas may not be totally plausible (travelling through the human body in a school bus) but that helps to make this book an adventure for the reader.
Review/Critique: I thought this book had an interesting way for students to learn more about the different senses humans have through seeing not only different facts scattered throughout the book, but in a story form as well.
Media: Pen and Ink, Watercolor, Colored Pencil, and Gouache for the paintings in the book ( )

This book is about a group of students who are chasing after their teacher in a school bus and end up going on a journey of the senses. They go through the different layers of the eye, the ear, the brain, nose and mouth. They eventually turn make to normal size (as this was a magic bus that made them all shrink) and everything goes back to normal. This is a great book for elementary students to learn about all of the different senses in their body as well as animals bodies and how they are similar or different. They also learn the depth that each body part has and how they all work together. This would be a good lesson for children in a health or body segment. They could pick a body part and test it. Like ears they could play different sounds and see if they recognize what the sounds are, they could taste different drinks to see if they knew what it was, or look at different shades of light to test their vision. This books themes are science and senses.

I absolutely love Ms. Frizzle and The Magic School Bus!! I used to watch the cartoon everyday after school. I also love how this book has the text itself and includes extra educational facts aside from the illustrations. When you open this book, your eyes don't know where to focus. The pages are cluttered with words, facts and pictures. It's great for the busy mind. The book would be great to read as an introductory to a science lesson about the five senses. It goes into great detail about the optic nerves and every part of the eye. And, of course, with the school bus shrinking and flying into a strangers eye, it also plays heavily on the child's imagination. The Magic School Bus adventures are a wonderful collection to keep in your classroom. ( )

During this exciting Mrs. Frizzle's field trip the class takes a trip through the eye, ear, nose, mouth, and hand to get a close up lesson on the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. ( )

Genre: Science Fiction/Informational

Media: Pen, Ink, Watercolor, Colored pencils