Joanna Cole, the woman who authored The Magic School Bus book series, has died at the age of 75. The cause of death was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Dick Robinson, the chairman and CEO of Scholastic, noted that "Joanna Cole had the perfect touch for blending science and story. Joanna's books, packed with equal parts humor and information, made science both easy to understand and fun for the hundreds of millions of children around the world who read her books and watched the award-winning television series."
The idea for the books first came about in the mid-1980s, when Scholastic's senior editorial director, Craig Walker, noticed that the company received numerous requests from teachers for quality children's books about science. He knew Joanna from a previous project and asked if she would be interested in tackling this request.
Craig noted that Joanna was really excited about the project: "I think for Joanna the excitement was always in the idea. What? Why? How?"
He went on to add: "And with The Magic School Bus it was how to explain it so that it is accurate and in a form that a kid can understand and use. And you can actually joke around while you are learning. She had a rare sense of what could be humorous."
As fans of the series know, the books eventually turned into an entire subculture, including a television show that was on the air for more than 18 years. Countless children in the United States grew up with Ms. Frizzle, Arnold, and the rest of the kids. Joanna's stories about children exploring science sold over 93 million copies.
Joanna Cole was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1944. She shared that she drew inspiration for the series from her own life; in fact, her fifth-grade teacher was the inspiration for Ms. Frizzle. Joanna's first book for children, Cockroaches, was released in 1971. She wrote the book after noticing that there were no other children's books about roaches. It was a niche that needed filling.
She also added that her living circumstances at the time were definitely helpful. "An article in the Wall Street Journal inspired me to do some research … Plus, I had ample time to study that creature in my low-budget New York apartment!"
It makes sense that Joanna's own fifth-grade teacher served as inspiration for her stories. Joanna told Scholastic that the year was a big one for her personally: "I discovered in the fifth grade that I enjoyed explaining things and writing reports for school. I had a teacher who was a little like Ms. Frizzle. She loved her subject. Every week she had a child do an experiment in front of the room, and I always wanted to be that child. Grade school was very important to me — maybe that's why I ended up writing books for children as an adult."
The Magic School Bus is actually about to be rebooted by Netflix, and actress Elizabeth Banks will play Ms. Frizzle. After news of Joanna's death was released, Elizabeth offered a tribute to the writer on Twitter: "These books have brought so much joy to children for so many years and I am so honored I get to help shine a light on the legendary Ms. Frizzle."
