Joanna Cole, who also wrote under the pseudonym B. J. Barnet, was an author of children’s books who teaches science. She is most famous as the author of The Magic School Bus series of children's books. Joanna Cole wrote over 250 books ranging from her first book Cockroach to her famous series Magic School Bus. Cole was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby East Orange. She loved science as a child, and had a teacher she says was a little like Ms. Frizzle. She attended the University of Massachusetts and Indiana University before graduating from the City College of New York with a B.A. in psychology. After some graduate education courses, she spent a year as a librarian in a Brooklyn elementary school. Cole subsequently became a letters correspondent at Newsweek, and then a senior editor for Doubleday Books for Young Readers.
Series
Books
The Magic School Bus Gets All Dried Up
A Book About Deserts
1996
The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane
1995
The Magic School Bus in a Pickle
A Book About Microbes
1998
The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top
A Book About Volcanoes
1996
The Magic School Bus Explores Human Evolution
2021
Get Eaten
kids books ages 3-5
1996
My Friend the Doctor
2005
New Treasury of Children's Poetry
1984
Buster Cat Goes Out
1989
Don't Tell the Whole World!
1990
Bully Trouble
1989
Monster Movie
1987
Field Trip Facts Notes From Ms. Frizzle's Kids
2007
The Magic School Bus Gets Planted
1997
The Magic School Bus Gets Programmed
2003
The Magic School Bus
Looking for Liz
1995
The Magic School Bus Gets A Bright Idea
A Book About Light
1999
The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses
1999
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures
Medieval Castle
2002
Your New Potty
1989
Hungry, Hungry Sharks!
1986
The Magic School Bus Plays Ball
A Book About Forces
1998
On the Bus with Joanna Cole
A Creative Autobiography
1996
The Magic School Bus Takes a Dive
A Book About Coral Reefs
1998
Asking About Sex & Growing Up
A Question-and-Answer Book for Kids
2009
Plants in Winter
1973
The Clown-Arounds
1981
The Magic School Bus and the Science Fair Expedition
2006
You Can't Smell a Flower with Your Ear!
All about Your 5 Senses
1994
Bony-Legs
1983
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures
Imperial China
2005
Six Sick Sheep
101 Tongue Twisters
1993
The Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals
2000
The Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk
2007
The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie
A Book About Germs
1995
Golly Gump Swallowed a Fly
1981
Read Aloud Treasury
1988
I'm a Big Brother
1997
Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road? And Other Riddles, Old And New
1994
Hide and Seek
1981
The Magic School Bus Flies From The Nest
2005
The Scary Book
1991
Ms. Frizzle's Adventures
Ancient Egypt
2001
The Magic School Bus
Lost in the Snow
2006
Ready, Set, Read--And Laugh!
1995
The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells
A Book About Archaeology
1997
The Magic School Bus Going Batty
A Book About Bats
1996
Monster Valentines
1989
The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth
1987
The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
1986
Miss Mary Mack and Other Children's Street Rhymes
1990
Aren't You Forgetting Something, Fiona?
1984
A Gift from Saint Francis
The First Creche
1989
Monster Manners
1985
Anna Banana
101 Jump-rope Rhymes
1989
Norma Jean, Jumping Bean
1987
Your Insides
1992
How You Were Born
1984
My New Kitten
1995
The Magic School Bus Answers Questions
1998
Get Well, Clown-Arounds!
1983
Spider's Lunch
All About Garden Spiders
1995
On the Ocean Floor
1992
The Missing Tooth
1988
The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge
2010
The Clown-Arounds Go On Vacation
1983
The Magic School Bus Sees Stars
A Book About Stars
1999
Inside the Human Body
1989
The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm
A Book About Weather
1995
Butterfly Battle
2003
My Big Girl Potty
2006
I'm a Big Sister
1997
Lost in the Solar System
1990
Pat-A-Cake and Other Play Rhymes
1992
Hank and Frank Fix Up the House
1988
In the Time of the Dinosaurs
1994
The New Baby at Your House
1985
The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive
1996
The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider
Fingerplays and Action Rhymes
1991
The Clown-arounds Have a Party
1982
This Is the Place for Me
1986
Ups and Downs
A Book About Floating and Sinking
1997
The Magic School Bus at the First Thanksgiving
2006
Evolution
1987
Bug in a Rug
Reading Fun for Just-beginners
1996
My Puppy Is Born
1973
Ready, Set, Read!
The Beginning Reader's Treasury
1990
The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip
1997
My Big Boy Potty
2000
Magic School Bus Out of This World
A Book about Space Rocks
1996
Sharing Is Fun
2004
The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake
1995
Who Put the Pepper in the Pot?
1991
How I Was Adopted
1995
Cars and How They Go
1983
It's too noisy!
1989
