Readers meet the author of the Magic School Bus science books as she tracks down facts and decides where and how the fictional Ms. Frizzle and her class will travel next. Readers will see reproductions of some of the Magic School Bus manuscripts and read about Cole's creative process. The author of dozens of other books of information and of joke books, she also writes about this dimension of her career. In a breezy, breathless narrative Cole discusses collaboration with artist Bruce Degen and authors such as Stephanie Calmenson. This highly visual glimpse inside Cole's writing career in its several stages also shows a bit of her personal life. (Ages 7-11)

Hop aboard and journey from Joanna's first book, a science book about cockroaches, to the adventures of the wildly popular Magic School Bus series. In On the Bus with Joanna Cole, this funny, informative author shares her personal story with the most important audience of all--budding authors and illustrators at home and in the classroom.