Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Imperial China

This is a magic school bus book and its about Ms. Frizzle's class going to China. It would be a really good book to read to my class if we were talking about China or different countries.

it tells you about chinese history as well afantastic book to read

This book is from the creators of The Magic School Bus. It is set on a class trip in China lead by Ms. Frizzle. The book is full of fun facts about China, including everyday and ancient customs. The book is illustrated in the cartoon format like the TV Show. The book receives 3 out of 5 because it

Show More

lacks scientific content and can be hard to follow, but is still fun and interesting for a child.

Show Less

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Imperial China, from the creators of Magic School Bus, serves as a wonderful first foray into Chinese culture. There is a fictional narrative which intertwines with various facts and information regarding China. The book seems less dense and thus more manageable than some

Show More

of the Magic School Bus books, yet provides ample information. The comic book style of the book is both visually appealing and easy to read. The current,progressing, fictional story line runs across the top of the pages, while facts and figure ranging from how to read Chinese to using chopsticks and planting rice, is segregated in a panel at the bottom of the page. The nonfictional element usually occur in step by step 'how to' frames.
The content is balanced. The author veers away from comparing The East and The West, and rather celebrates what makes China great. Throughout the book, the author enumerates the creativity of Chinese art and inventions via vivid examples. In the back of the book is a page which serves as a disclaimer, stating that lots of information was left out and that the authors took liberties with some facts. The best part of the book was the prompting to continue fact finding about China in other books.

Show Less

Miss Frizzle and a sparse fraction of her students spend the afternoon in Imperial China, still making it back to present day in time to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Miss Frizzle’s point of view narrative is encapsulated within white boxes set aside from both the character dialogue and from

Show More

the additional information presented at the bottom of the page. This three-way segregation of information complicates the tale in a way which fragments the reader’s attention. The storyline employs the somewhat unfortunate plot device of the mainly Caucasian group of outsiders helping to save the day for a non-white culture. However, this text does serve as a strong introduction to Imperial China, diagramming many elements of Chinese culture such as calligraphy, silk making, and rice harvesting, while also listing to the reader the extensive contributions of inventions that originated in Imperial China. The inclusion of an authentic Chinese poem gives readers a taste of non-Western poetry. Both the poem and subject research are listed in a front acknowledgements statement, verifying that Cole did sufficient research when constructing the text. Degen’s illustrations have evolved from the Magic School Bus series to contain less shadow graduation and appear more cartoonish. The background and artifacts described employ more detail, such as the many illustrations of the Chinese landscape, such as rice patties, marketplace, and the Great Wall of China. These illustrations are created using brush, ink, pen, and gouache. This non-fiction social studies text is recommended for children ages seven to ten.

Show Less

I absolutely love “Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures: Imperial China” by Joanna Cole. The Magic School Bus is such a great world to read about, and I love so many things about this book. First of all, I love that it is told by Ms. Frizzle’s point of view, because I want to be a teacher just like

Show More

her, and I like to hear her side of the story. I also like that the book is laid out like a comic, with different strips and text bubbles. This makes it so fun to read and there is always a lot to look at. One of the extra features is a how-to on holding and using chopsticks! Another text box explains what a lion sculpture means in Chinese culture. The overall theme of the book is going back in time to learn about and appreciate ancient China.

Show Less