Customer Reviews

Space Explorers (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book, No. 4)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had to review at least two books for reluctant readers for a Graduate class that I am taking and I would like to share my synopsis of this particular book. (I had to come up with a classroom library of at least 50 books from a variety of genres and award winners.)

This book is #4 in the series of The Magic School Bus; A Science Chapter Book. It includes black and white illustrations, some informational excerpts, and some written work by the kids in Ms. Frizzle's class. There is a lot to be learned in this story about their adventure through space. It can be enhanced by viewing the video The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space and/or by reading The Magic School Bus Hello Out There: A Sticker Book About the Solar System or The Magic School Bus Fact Finder: Space and the Planets. Children can even get on-line at and view the web site, www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus for a "space tour".
The book would be a good book for reluctant readers because it is easy to read with large print and easy vocabulary. It is also a fun story about an interesting topic. (The book itself lists a reading level of 3; ages 6-9.)

This is a great book for any fans of Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus adventures. I use this book in my summer school class as a whole class reading book to go along with my unit on Space and the Universe.

My son is 6 & he reads above grade level. He read this book to me over a week or more reading a chapter or two a day/night. It follows the show of this quite well. He enjoyed it a lot but then he is a space nut. I would say it is a mid to high second grade reading level & it has some topic specific vocabulary that might need to be explained.

These chapter books have turned this series into almost total nonfiction. When I was reading them to my son we both got bored and then noticed the magic was missing from the series like the shows had. This is a great series but is missing the boat by not adding in some magic for fun and excitement.

I read this aloud to my 4 year old and 8 year old during a homeschool unit on outer space, it was perfect!

Our family has been studying space. I picked up the Magic School Bus pictorial books on space, as well as this chapter book. The pictorial books really give a lot of information, and I thought it was unlikely that the chapter book would surpass them. But this chapter book has Carlos (a child in the class) inventing a space rover called Rocko, designed to collect rocks. There's plot all about Rocko, and there are space concepts in this book that are not in the comic-book format book.

So, a pleasant surprise, and great for the imagination!