Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
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As an adult, I was not expecting to enjoy learning a little bit about the coral reefs, but I really did.

While visiting with my nephew, he wanted to read this book. My mom(his Nana) went with him to the library and he picked out five of the Magic School Bus books. Takes a Dive was one of the books.

The illustrations by Bruce Degen were really cool. At one point in the book, the children turned into different sea creatures from anemones and hermit crabs to remoras and sharks. Degen definitely makes the book visually appealing.

Joanna Cole writes in a way that is easy to comprehend for children. I think that it is wonderful how she revolves the book around a multicultural class of about eight kids. Many different ethnicities in the class are represented.

Cole gives the child a chance to explore the coral reefs to discover what the reefs are about in a way that is neither condescending or patronizing.

Also, she throws in the concept of partnership. One of the kids, Wanda, is always wanting to know why she has to have Dorothy Ann as a partner. Through their exploration of the coral reef, Wanda and Dorothy Ann discover why they need to work together as partners.

Even though my nephew was four years old, I would say that this book is designed for an older child between the ages of 9 to 12, like they suggested here at amazon.com.

If you want to learn a little bit more about exploring coral reefs with your children, then this is the book for you.

I have never seen this on television, so I do not know how it would come across on television. But, if it is as good as this book, then it would be just as good.

Ms. Frizzle takes her class on a field trip to the depths of the ocean to observe the coral reefs up close and learn life that found in reefs. The book, like all the other Magic School Bus books, teaches a lot, and has a moral. In this story the reader can learn a lot about the coral reefs of the sea, and what kind of creatures live there. The moral of this story is to work together to achieve your goals. Children between the ages of 4 and 6 would probably enjoy this book.

MY daughter loves bugs/nature and this is a great book to help her learn a little more about them.

These are a great addition to any home library. Just having them available is a great Science curriculum. The kids don't even know they are learning.

My 5 year old son loves the Magic School Bus. We were not disappointed with this book about the Coral Reefs. The Magic School makes learning about the environment and the ocean fun for all ages.

My five year old son and three year old daughter have been enjoying this book for over a year. The older child finds the story exciting and gains satisfaction from better understanding the world around him. The younger child enjoys how the characters she's come to know so well morf into creatures she's familiar with from visits to the aquarium and the fishmonger.

The story opens with Mrs. Frizzle showing the children a map from her pirate ancestor. The possibility of finding pirate treasure and the threats facing the kids during their search for it motivates them to work together in the manner of coral reef creatures. The kids find the treasure chest in an area of the reef that looks sickly and learn that the metal fittings on the chest have been poisoning the coral.

Magic School Bus Takes a Dive is a worthwhile purchase. The kids also enjoy a related title, Magic School Bus Gets Eaten, which has the class in the ocean again learning about food chains.