I found out about this book looking for other books by the same illustrator, Bruce Degen (author of Jamberry). Once again he has created a lush, richly illustrated book that makes the reader smile. The unexpected treasure was the wonderful text by author Carlstrom. The words dance off of your toungue as you read this book out-loud. My 4 year old was giggling repeatedly. I'm adding the Jesse Bear book series to my children's bookshelves.

My three-year-old and I love these rhymes and the wonderful illustrations! In the illustrations, there is much for preschoolers to note and discuss (e.g., mom's frown as Jesse spills pudding).

I appreciate the sentiment in many of the poems. In particular, the poem called "Hurry, Jesse" captures the interaction between a working parent and a preschool child perfectly, from the mother encouraging the child to hurry, to the child asking for more time to play, to the mom realizing that unhurried time for the child is probably more important that the task she is rushing off to complete.

This book has about 12 short rhymes. Each has short lines which help to keep young ones attention. It opens with Jesse Bear waking up Mom and Dad and ends with bed time. It traces the busy, imaginative day of an active child. My three year old girl loves each page.

I have not read this book. Indeed, how could I? The title and cover illustration are extremely offputting.

I find it so tragic that this wonderful piece of my life - one that has kept me company on the sunny summer days when my mother was at work and friends were off doing other things, and on the rainy winter days when school was getting too much to handle and I was bursting in anticipating for the warmth of spring to arrive - is going out of print (along with its may-even-be superior sequel, Upchuck Summer's Revenge).

What kind of world are we living in where a publisher will not keep these masterpieces on bookshelves for newer generations to fall in love with?

To this day, whenever I am asked what my favorite book is, Upchuck Summer is always the first utterance from my lips. That's all you need to know. Buy the book.

I must've read this book when I was seven years-old. It was probably the book that I ever called "my favorite." I remember waking up at 2 AM and finishing it with a flashlight. I really loved it. This is just a really fun(ny) book. The story shows such a good understanding of what summer fun at camp really was like during those great days of our youth. It's a real nostalgia trip now that I'm graduating, but that's part of the fun.

This is one of the older Magic School Bus books which has layers of detail in it. You can chose how many layers to read, depending on the child's interest and on the time you have available for reading.

The obvious layer is the text. There is plenty of information from just reading the text. If you want to add more, read the dialogue between the characters, written cartoon style in balloons. The most detail would come from the children's sketches and notes that are in the (very wide) margins.

I like the scheme of taking the children through the system and coming out the other end. Children usually find the fantasy of changing size to be fascinating as well. To my knowledge, the book is factual and fairly well up to date.

As a seamstress, I love Ms Frizzle's clothing and accessories.

I taught a unit on water to three second grade classes this year and this book helped the students understand where our city drinking water comes from, how it is treated for impurities and how it gets moved through the system and into our homes. The pictures and text are informative as well as humorous and entertaining. This book kept the students' attention and promoted discussiom. I highly reccommend it!

When their inimitable school bus goes on the fritz (or should I say, "frizz"?,) the students get worried: this is one field trip they don`t want to miss. They`re trying to give their unique teacher a surprise birthday party and need to get to the bakery for the cake. When they finally reach their destination, the unstable bus suddenly shrinks, with everyone in it, to the size of a moth. They dodge the baker`s fly swatter and Ms Frizzle while using kitchen chemistry to get the job done. My boys and I miss the volume of information and mini "reports" of the original series, but they still learn and have fun at the same time. They have a new respect for cooking, as edible chemistry. And the baking soda experiment at the back of the book is a rainy day standby in our household: we love the fizz from the Frizz!

I liked it because the baker thought the magic school bus was a moth.

Humorous, engaging, and packed with information, this best-selling science series is aptly illustrated with lively pictures. My kids adore the cartoon bubbles and short "reports" from the students in the story. Their teacher, Ms Frizzle, is an amazing character who challenges her pupils and leads them on amazing fieldtrips. Her equally fascinating wardrobe changes with each subject and situation. All this has made it a read-aloud favorite since my eldest was three. In ON THE OCEAN FLOOR, the inimitable school bus undergoes several transformations as it transports us to and through the ocean; from tidal pools, down to the deep ocean floor, and, after a brief visit to a tropical island, home. I was touched by the inclusion of a specimen of fish, well known in my home state of Hawaii. However, I must say OUR lifeguards are nothing like Lenny, who, unlike the rest of the book, is definitely lacking on several points. Real lifeguards patrol their strip of beach and keep watch over the waters from their perch. They also patiently answer my children`s questions about the local sea life (most recently, about jellyfish) and just as patiently patch up even the smallest of "boo-boos." Minus one star for Lenny.

Another triumph for the Magic School Bus series. The class takes a field trip to the ocean (not the beach; the ocean) where they learn about the wondrous creatures that live there. Everything from plankton to mammals, including the strange lifeforms around hot water vents, is touched on in this fabulous book. The inserts on each page from the kids' projects add valuable information. The science is current and presented in an entertaining and easy-to-understand manner. Even though the series is designed for older kids, my two-year-old loves the pictures and carries the book with him everywhere.

This is not a book that will keep young children engaged at bedtime. Throughout the year Jesse Bear announces "how he says *it*" each month. We don't know what *it* is till the last page, and by then, even I wasn't curious any more. The ryhming text is not always closely related to a season (September: "With clothes that don't fit and no place to sit, I say it with buttons today.") and won't make sense to young listeners.

The illustrations are colorful and busy, and young kids will enjoy the activity. However, I think this book is better for 6-7 year olds and library shelves.

This book is good for kids who are 3-6 years old. It teaches the months, seasons and holidays and Jesse says what love is through acticities he does on his own and with his family.
Jesse's messages are all expressed by how he loves others, his family and his community.

Both of my children loved this book when they were little. Each page shows a month of the year and a rhyme to go with it. Each illustration has a picture form of "I love you" for you and your child to find. A very creative book and a great way to end a day.

I would give this a three, only my son loves this book because he loves anything about ants. We read Ms Cole`s MAGIC SCHOOL BUS VISITS A BEEHIVE back to back with this. The comparison is too great. It would be terrific to see a layout of the ant colony`s system of tunnels and chambers. Also, no mention is made of the drones: in the story Phoebe says "Without the queen, there wouldn`t be eggs," but without drones, there wouldn`t be eggs, either. I don`t know if they showed them in the television show, but there were no pictures of the pupae, nor the interesting fact that the ants stroke them and receive a tasty secretion in return. The book was interesting, but short on information; more so than some of the others adapted from the TV series. If your child wants to find out about ants there are better books out there.

In this book a class ventures into the busy world of an ant farm. They learn all about the different roles of the different types of ants in each colony. The story is interesting to children and a lot of information about ant communities is presented.

This is a great book for kids to learn a great deal about life. Every parent should buy this for his or her child. Well worth the asking price.

Looking for a new planet to picnic on, Commander Toad and the crew of STAR WARTS descend to the planet and immediately discover that everywhere they step giant purple grapes sprout up. In no time at all, Commander Toad, Doc Peeper, Lieutenant Lily, and Mr. Hop are swallowed up by the giant purple grapes and are telling some of the worst grape jokes in the universe! And it looks like there's no way out!

Jane Yolen is an award-winning children's book author as well as a writer of adult science fiction and fantasy. She's earned the Caldecott-given for the most distinguished picture book, the Nebula-given to the most distinguished writing in the field of science fiction and fantasy, the Golden Kite-given by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and the World Fantasy Award. She's written seven Commander Toad Adventures, including COMMANDER TOAD AND THE LONG VOYAGE HOME, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE PLANET OF THE GRAPES, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE SPACE PIRATES, and COMMANDER TOAD AND THE BIG BLACK HOLE. With dozens of books written in many genres, Jane Yolen is a great author to introduce to young readers.

COMMANDER TOAD AND THE PLANET OF THE GRAPES is an absolute blast to read out loud to young readers or pre-readers. The short, descriptive sentences push the story along at a frantic and fun pace, and the color and black and white illustrations are great fun for a young audience.

With all the interest young kids today have in space-based programs on Cartoon Network, books like the Commander Toad series will bridge the gap between movies, video games, and the written word. Jane Yolen is an exemplary entertainer for young readers and parents willing to endorse the habit of reading.

This is another silly outer-space book in the Commander Toad series, which my sons, ages 4 and 8, thoroughly ENJOY. In _Planet of the Grapes_, the crew arrives on an unknown planet only to discover that it grows huges grapes the moment they touch their feet to its surface.

Due to a chance accident with a loaded syringe, Doc Peeper with the green grass hair discovers that the planet is allergic to *them*. It is Lieutenant Lily's sneezes which give him the clue. He was about to inject her with antihistamine, which is the reason for the syringe.

Complicated plot, lots of funny stuff. These books are enjoyable to both kids and adults.

I read a good book called The Magic School Bus Gets All Dried Up. The author of the Magic School bus is Joanna Cole. My favorite character is Ms. Frizzle. Ms. Frizzle is the type of teacher I would like to have because she is energetic and fun. I think I would learn alot of stuff if I were in her class because of all those field trips they go on. This is an educational book for children because there is alot of information you can learn. Sometimes they go to the zoo, beach, and other places. My favorite part of the book is when the bus shrinks into a small size so the class can have a closer look at things. These books are also a tv show. This is why I like this book, so go out and read it.

I SAW THIS MAGIC SCHOOL BUS STORY,ALL DRIED UP ON TV . I REALY REALY LOVE THIS BOOK. MY FAVORITE CHARACTER IS ARNOLD. I AM GONNA ASK MY DADDY TO BUY IT FOR ME.////// JAKE A. I AM 5 YEARS OLD

The Magic School Bus is an excellent science-based book collection, in which the indomitable Ms. Frizzle (wonderfully voiced by Lily Tomlin on the animated TV show) takes her grammar school kids on "Fantastic Voyage" like journeys in a shrinking school bus. . The bus takes the kids inside a book about Physics, where they enter a page about a baseball field with no friction. The kids learn about how throwing, running, and catching would work were there no friction.

Generally, the books are funny, have recognizable characters, and teach science principles in a clear, imaginative way. This book, however, was not as good as others I've read in the series: there is minimal use of "miniaturization" that makes the other books so clever and unique, the focus on friction is a bit too narrow, and the usually exciting escape from danger is on the tepid side. Still, its 30 pages contain bad puns, demonstrations of friction, and two friction experiments and the never-frazzled Ms. Frizzle. It's a mildly entertaining and informative book.

I'm 8 years old, and I've read alot of Magic School Busbooks. This book explains all about friction, forces, pushing andpulling.The book takes place in a magic book where the kids play baseball with no friction. I liked this book because I play baseball, and it would be hard to play without friction. I think that this book is better than the one about bats, and I REALLY liked that one. This book was one of the best I've read, so I suggest this book for your children.Kids, ask your parents to buy this book.