The Magic School Bus Makes A Rainbow: A Book About Color (Magic School Bus) (TV Tie-In) [Paperback]

Joanna Cole (Author), Carolyn Braken (Illustrator), Bruce Degan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

The class rides into a whitelight pinball machine to learn about the dazzling wonders of color and light.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Author Joanna Cole and illustrator Bruce Degen make learning a spirited joyride, delighting young audiences with their fantastic journeys to the eye of a hurricane, the bottom of the ocean, and the center of the earth, to name just a few. Author and illustrator have said they were each inspired by an important teacher in their classroom days - very much like Ms. Frizzle! There are now more than 58 million Magic School Bus books in print, in a variety of formats, plus a wildly successful animated television series. Called "a can't-miss team" by School Library Journal, Cole and Degen live in Florida and Connecticut, respectively. For more information about Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, visit: scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/books/authors

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590922513
• ISBN-13: 978-0590922517
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( C ) > Cole, Joanna
  • #74 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Baby-3 > Basic Concepts > Colors
  • #99 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Fiction

More About the Author

Joanna Cole s a former elementary school teacher and librarian and a frequent contributor to Parents magazine. Joanna Cole lives in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars TV spin-off book, January 6, 2005

By 

Will Snip (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Magic School Bus Makes A Rainbow: A Book About Color (Magic School Bus) (TV Tie-In) (Paperback)

It is hard to find the "original" Magic School Bus books as opposed to the ones based on the TV series. If you look at the copyright page, it does say from a TV episode BASED on the Magic School Bus books written by Joanna Cole. I would like this information put in the product details section.

I find that the books based on the TV series have a small fraction of the science of the "original" MSB books. I would only give this book to children in pre-school or kindergarten.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Review of the MSB's "Makes a Rainbow", July 15, 2005

By 

Pam Tee "Busy Mom" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Magic School Bus Makes A Rainbow: A Book About Color (Magic School Bus) (TV Tie-In) (Paperback)

Ms. Frizzle does it again! With her remarkable bus, silly wardrobe, and bag of tricks, she teaches the gang alot about light. This time she teaches using an amazing laser-powered pinball machine.

The kids can't wait to play -it is pinball afterall-but the problem is that Mr. Rule (the principal) is about to take the game away if they can't `win' a game. To win, the students must light up all six `colored eyes' at the back of the game. This requires that they split the incoming laser light and bounce the various frequencies/light colors around.

The children win, of course, but not before they learn about wavelength, prisms, and reflection and refraction.

Four Stars. These books are very educational, but they are not the easiest read-alouds. (I read them to my 3 and 5 year-olds anyway.) In this case, the topic is rather complex AND I would suggest that you use this book as a supplement to the Video.

**See the `Search Inside' Excerpt page for an example of reading level. Certainly young children will not be able to read them.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Disappointing, June 13, 2009

By 

L. Williams - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Magic School Bus Makes A Rainbow: A Book About Color (Magic School Bus) (TV Tie-In) (Paperback)

I am a big fan of the Magic School Bus Series and also impressed with the chapter books and easy reader type books they have, which is great for varying reading levels within a classroom. Having said that, I was very disappointed with ...Makes a Rainbow. It is indeed confusing and unclear for younger readers as some of the other reviewers stated. My first grade students were not too impressed with this book to say the least. Making reference to and using the idea of a pinball machine distracted from the factual information it attempted to teach about rainbows.