The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks

Last updated
The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks.jpg
Author Joanna Cole
Illustrator Bruce Degen
LanguageEnglish
Series The Magic School Bus
GenreEducational fiction
Publisher Scholastic
Publication date
July 24, 1986
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback) also audiobook
Pages40
ISBN 0-590-40360-5
OCLC 33843132
Followed byThe Magic School Bus inside the Earth 

The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks is the first book in The Magic School Bus classic series books. Written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen, it is a picture book and introduces most of the main characters of the series, including Ms. Frizzle, Arnold, Dorothy Ann, Ralphie (called "Ralph" in the book), Tim, Wanda and Liz as well as several students who did not appear in the TV series or any other multimedia outside of the original series books. Carlos, Keesha and Phoebe do not appear in this book, though a student called "John" in the book bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Carlos.

Contents

The book depicts the class's first field trip with Ms. Frizzle. Despite the title, the bus is not depicted as directly causing the strange events of the field trip as it would be in later books and the television series. In this book, strange events just seem to happen with no explanation and continue to happen after the kids leave the bus in a cloud.

Synopsis

The book begins by introducing the character of Ms. Frizzle and describing her unusual teaching methods. Soon, she decides to take the class on a field trip to the waterworks, which the kids are sure will be boring, especially compared to the trips the kids in other classes go on. However, after driving through a tunnel, the bus becomes plastered with images of octopuses and everyone inside finds themselves wearing swimming outfits. [1]

Once this occurs, the bus rises up into a cloud along with evaporating water. Ms. Frizzle makes all the kids get out of the bus. The kids did not want to leave, but she threatened to give them extra homework if they didn't. However, the kids begin shrinking once they're outside and, once they're each the size of a raindrop, they rain down into a river, which carries them into the town's water purification system. After going through the waterworks, the pipes take the class back to the school. They travel through the pipes into the girls' bathroom, and when a seventh grader girl turned on one of the faucets, the class came out of it. Once out of the faucet, they are instantly restored to their regular size and the clothes they were in before the tunnel (except for Ms. Frizzle, wearing a bizarre dress covered with octopus pictures).

Ms. Frizzle, however, appears to have no memory of the strange trip and the class later sees the bus outside. They wonder how it returned from the cloud and even consider that they may have imagined their whole adventure. The book ends with Ms. Frizzle informing them that they will be studying volcanoes next. The main story is then followed by two pages listing things that happened in the story that cannot happen in real life, as well as some trivia such as that the water purification system may completely differ from the one in the story.

Notes

Television adaptation

In the second season of the Magic School Bus television series, the book was loosely adapted into the episode "Wet All Over," which featured a far greater amount of plot. In the episode, Arnold and Wanda collect water in the girls' bathroom and Arnold accidentally leaves Ms. Frizzle's key in there and forgets to turn off the water. While the class is on the field trip, Liz comically struggles to try and stop the bathroom from flooding.

Unlike in the book, the class is actually turned into water and the bus journeys with them on their trip through the water cycle. Being and behaving like water, they find themselves trapped in the water cycle and realize the only way they can escape is to get Ms. Frizzle's key back. This is when Arnold remembers he left the key in the bathroom and that he forgot to turn off the water. The bus manages to redirect them to the waterworks and they then travel through the pipes to get to the bathroom, where they get the key and are restored to their human forms.

When Arnold and the others get into a pickle jar in the following episode, referencing this episode, he will say "I hope we're not back in the water cycle".

Related Research Articles

<i>You Cant Do That on Television</i> Canadian sketch comedy television series

You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured adolescent and teenage actors performing in a sketch comedy format similar to America's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canada's Second City Television. Each episode had a specific theme, typically relating to the popular culture of the time.

The Magic School Bus is a series of children's books about science, written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. Designed for ages 6-9, they feature the antics of Ms. Valerie Felicity Frizzle and her class, who board a sentient anthropomorphic Type A school bus which takes them on field trips to impossible locations, including the solar system, clouds, the past, and the human body. The books are written in the first person from the point of view of an unnamed student in "the Friz's" class. The class has a pet lizard named Liz, who accompanies the class on their field trips.

<i>The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System</i> 1994 childrens book

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System is the fourth book in Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen's The Magic School Bus classic series books. Published in 1990, the book depicts arguably the most well-known adventure of the series and introduces the character of Janet.

<i>The World of David the Gnome</i> Spanish animated television series

The World of David the Gnome, originally titled David, el Gnomo and also known as David, the Gnome, is a Spanish animated television series based on The Secret Book of Gnomes, a series of children's books by Dutch author Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet. The series was originally created by Spanish studio BRB Internacional in collaboration with Televisión Española. Twenty-six episodes were produced. The series spawned two spin-off series: Wisdom of the Gnomes (1987) and The New World of the Gnomes (1996); and three films edited from the series: The Gnomes' Great Adventure (1987), The Gnomes in the Snow (1999), and The Fantastic Adventures of the Gnomes (2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Cole (author)</span> American author (1944–2020)

Joanna Cole was an American author of children's books, best known as the author of the Magic School Bus series, which sold more than 93 million copies in 13 countries. She wrote more than 250 books, ranging from her first book Cockroaches to her famous series Magic School Bus, which is illustrated by Bruce Degen.

<i>Room 222</i> American comedy TV series

Room 222 is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969, until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 (ET) for its first two seasons, before settling into Friday evenings at 9:00, following The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family, and preceding The Odd Couple and Love, American Style.

<i>Saved by the Bell: The New Class</i> American television sitcom (1993–2000)

Saved by the Bell: The New Class is an American teen sitcom television series and spinoff of Saved by the Bell. The New Class premiered on September 11, 1993. The series ran for seven seasons on NBC as a part of the network's TNBC Saturday morning line-up, airing its final episode on January 8, 2000. At seven seasons, it was the longest-running incarnation of the franchise.

"Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough" is the thirteenth episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, and the thirty-fifth episode overall. Written by Diane Ruggiero and directed by Guy Bee, the episode premiered on UPN on February 8, 2006.

<i>The Killian Curse</i> 2006 New Zealand TV series or program

The Killian Curse is a New Zealand kidult horror-fantasy television show, directed by Thomas Robins and Wayne Vinton. Starring Nick Blake and local New Zealand children, The Killian Curse tells the 21 stories of the students from Room 21, who must each face an evil curse placed on them by the sinister Charles Killian. Killian wants to get revenge on the people who caused his death shortly after founding the school in 1906. He needs to capture eleven souls to rise from the dead. There are two series which first aired in 2006 and 2008.

<i>Wayside</i> (TV series) Canadian animated comedy television series

Wayside is a Canadian animated series and sitcom developed by John Derevlany and produced by Nelvana Limited. The series follows Todd, a transfer student who attends Wayside, an offbeat 30-story grammar school. It is loosely based on the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar, and several elements differ between the two works.

<i>The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs</i> 1996 video game

The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs is the sixth book in Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen's The Magic School Bus series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Degen</span> American writer

Bruce Degen is an American illustrator and writer with over forty children's books to his credit. He may be known best for illustrating The Magic School Bus, a picture book series written by Joanna Cole. He has collaborated with writers Nancy White Carlstrom, on the Jesse Bear books, and Jane Yolen, on the Commander Toad series. He has written and self-illustrated Jamberry, Daddy Is a Doodlebug, and Shirley's Wonderful Baby.

School Bus Graveyard is a series of children's horror fiction novellas created and authored by Tom B. Stone. The series contained twenty-eight books which were published by Bantam Books from 1994 to 1998.

<i>The Magic School Bus</i> (TV series) Animated childrens television series (1994–1997)

The Magic School Bus is an animated educational children's television series, based on the book series of the same name by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. Originally broadcast from 1994 to 1997, the series received critical acclaim for its use of celebrity voice talent, as well as combining entertainment with an educational series. The series stars Lily Tomlin as the voice of Ms. Frizzle. The theme song is performed by Little Richard.

<i>The Magicians</i> (Grossman novel) 2009 fantasy novel by Lev Grossman

The Magicians is a new adult fantasy novel by the American author Lev Grossman, published in 2009 by Viking Press. It tells the story of Quentin Coldwater, a young man who discovers and attends a secret college of magic in New York. The novel received critical acclaim and was followed by a sequel, The Magician King, in 2011 and a third novel, The Magician's Land, in 2014.

The Magic School Bus is a series of educational software video games developed by Music Pen and published by Microsoft via their Microsoft Home brand. The interactive adventures are part of the larger franchise and based with The Magic School Bus original series books and public television series.

The Magic School Bus is an American edutainment media franchise which includes a book series, a TV series, a streaming series, and video games. Each of the stories within the franchise focuses on the antics of a fictional elementary school teacher, Ms. Valerie Frizzle, and her class who board a "magic school bus", which takes them on field trips to unusual times and locations, such as the Cretaceous Period, outer space, and inside a human body.

<i>The Magic School Bus Rides Again</i> Television series

The Magic School Bus Rides Again is an animated children's television series, based on the book series of the same name by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. It also serves as a continuation of the 1994–1997 PBS Kids series The Magic School Bus, with Lily Tomlin reprising her role as Ms. Frizzle. The series premiered on Netflix on September 29, 2017. The second season premiered on April 13, 2018.

References