The Magic School Bus in the Arctic: A Book About Heat

by Scholastic Productions

Other authorsJoanna Cole (Editor), Bruce Degen (Editor), Art Ruiz (Illustrator), Anne Schreiber (Author)

Paperback, 1998

Status

Available

Call number

536

Publication

Scholastic (1998), 32 pages

Description

Come along with Ms. Frizzle's class to the Arctic Circle as they learn it's not just about getting warm, but finding a way to keep the heat you have.

User reviews

LibraryThing member benfulton

The mysterious grade school teacher Ms. Frizzle takes her students on a journey to the Arctic to learn about heat and heat transfers. Who is this mysterious Ms. Frizzle? Is she a simple schoolteacher who has stumbled, Aladdin-like, into control of a force much greater than she? Or is she something

more, a greater power in her own right. If Aladdin's lamp contained a djinn, it seems likely that the magic school bus is also a container; a mere receptacle for a djinn-like entity. Aladdin rubbed his lamp, but Ms. Frizzle pushes a button; the results are practically identical. But Aladdin uses his lucky chance almost entirely to his own benefit. It seems clear that Ms. Frizzle could use the powers hidden in the bus to attain world domination if she so desired, but she seems beyond that, a creature almost entirely devoid of the negative human emotions: fear, anger, desire. Her humanity is being called into question, she is surely not a simple human. Could she be a witch, or fairy? But surely these beings are subject to normal emotional tugs such as we. We are left to consider a higher power: a djinn in her own right? An elemental force of nature? Or can we go so far as to call her a goddess? Sophia, the goddess of wisdom, is described as "a messenger, a mediator, a helper, a handmaid" - could any words describe Ms. Frizzle more closely? Her simultaneous ability to hobnob with forces like heat and cold, and to mentor and lecture the children under her care, lead one to wonder. But from these same characteristics we can be sure that she has nothing but the best in mind for not only the children in her charge, but for all of humankind as well.

Or can we?

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LibraryThing member t1bclasslibrary

Mrs. Frizzle decides that when things are really cold at school, it's a great time to go to where they're even colder- the arctic! The kids are all freezing, and learning plenty about heat loss, before they learn enough about insulation to make a difference. Luckily they figure out how to keep warm

and warm up the bus so they can leave.

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