The Magic School Bus Wet All Over: A Book about the Water Cycle

"Suddenly the whole bus rose into the air. We felt cool and heavy. We were turning into water!" -- From the book In case you're not familiar with Scholastic series of Magic School Bus books, they are books which are based on the animated TV series--which are, incindentally, based on the ORIGINAL books written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. (Whew!) In The Magic School Bus: Wet All Over, Ms. Frizzle, an unusual teacher, and her class go on an exciting and bizarre field trip (as usual!). This time, they turn into water droplets...which then turn into water vapor...which then condenses to clouds...and then they begin to "rain"! "Go with the flow, class!", Ms. Frizzle merrily advises. Then, the kids go over a waterfall (water always flows to the lowest spot, "the Friz" observes) and into the ocean. The sun warms them, they evaporate--and the cycle begins again. They eventually make it to a reservoir, which leads to a water purification plant. The kids learn about alum (it sponges up dirt) and how water becomes safe for drinking. This particular book is less cheesy than most (in that it doesn't have lots of groan-inducing word-play), and it also features a great environmental message from Ms. Frizzle at the end. The last part of it says: "Although there is lots of water in the world, it is not always where we want it when we want it. Only a tiny part of the Earth's water is drinkable. Our drinkable water is a precious resource. We need to borrow it only as we need it, and to return it to the water cycle in the best condition we can." I use the Magic School Bus books, videos and DVDs to supplement science class (I homeschool), and they never disappoint with their down-to-Earth approach to science concepts. This particular book is especially great for teaching water conservation in addition to the water cycle.

This book was fantastic. I had looked everywhere for a book to use to help teach my third grade class about the water cycle. This book was perfect. The children enjoyed the illustrations and the amusement of the distortion of the body in evaporation and condensation. This book covered all the bases. It discussed evaporation, condensation, and precipitation and how they all work together to create the continuous water cycle. This book is a must for guardians or teachers dealing with third through fifth graders.