932

932

A different take on the Magic School Bus series this is the story of Ms. Frizzle taking a vacation to Ancient Egypt. This book is great because it takes recognizable characters from the animated series which helps children make connections in the story. I really enjoyed how much the book had to offer but the layout of the information was difficult to read to the group and would pack too much in a page. I found myself not reading everything on the page in order to focus on the main story line more as my group was easily distracted. Using this strategy would allow a teacher to present the same book across multiple grades. ( )

Summary of Book: Ms. Frizzle and a group of people decide to go on a trip to Egypt with a tour guide. Instead of going to modern Egypt with the tour guide, Ms. Frizzle and the group end up in Ancient Egypt because of her special time travelling device. When the group gets there, they learn about everything from papyrus being used as paper to how Egyptians built pyramids and used mummification. They return to present time in the end where their tour guide thinks they've missed everything and the group laughs it off humorously by telling him they didn't miss anything!

Personal Reaction to the Book: I find ancient cultures and civilizations fascinating so it was a very interesting book to me. Even though the "timeline" itself in the book wasn't a hundred percent accurate for what we know about ancient Egypt, it does give children an overview of it.

Extension Ideas:
1. Have children learn more about the process of ancient Egyptian mummification and then have them do a kid friendly version of it and write about it. Then bring supplies to class (like dressings to wrap something in for example) to let students practice doing it on their own.
2. Try to schedule a field trip to Egypt to visit many historical sites, such as the pyramids so that they may learn and experience it in person. If that is not an option (like for many of us), use technology to create a virtual field trip with the children inside the classroom. ( )

Cute book with a lot of interesting lessons about Ancient Egypt. Like all Magic School Bus books, I find the comic book style and all the insets and sidenotes a little distracting from the overall story, BUT my 7-year-old really liked them, particularly all the insets about Egyptian gods and goddesses. Overall, a nice, pun-filled and interesting overview of some highlights of ancient Egyptian history. :) ( )