Joanna Cole (August 11, 1944July 12, 2020) was an American author of children's books, best known as the author of the Magic School Bus series, which is illustrated by Bruce Degen and has sold more than 93 million copies in 13 countries. Cole wrote more than 250 books in total.

Early life

Cole was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of Elizabeth (Reid), a homemaker, and Mario Basilea, a house painter. She grew up in the suburb East Orange. She loved science as a child, and had a teacher that she says acted a little like Ms. Frizzle, but that she did not resemble her physically because her teacher looked "very conservative". Her teacher let students check out one of her science books each week and Cole stated, "I thought that reading science books for pleasure was an ordinary thing". As a child, she studied insects and plants in her backyard. Cole enjoyed school and also enjoyed writing science reports for class.

In 1965, she married Philip A. Cole. Cole subsequently became a letters correspondent at Newsweek, then associate editor for the SeeSaw book club at Scholastic, and then a senior editor for Doubleday Books for Young Readers. She went freelance in 1980, writing children's books and articles for Parents magazine. She decided to write children's books full-time in 1980. Two of her books were written for parents to read with their children, with the titles being How You Were Born (1984) and Your New Potty (1989). Cole always kept the emotional level of her readers in mind when writing children's books. She stated that it is a privilege to have a career doing what she enjoyed as a child. She and illustrator Bruce Degen spent over a year per book when they worked on the first 10 titles.

The Magic School Bus has found continued success and has sold millions of copies in multiple languages. The most recent installment in the series is The Magic School Bus Explores Human Evolution (2020). Cole said that her favorite The Magic School Bus book is Inside the Earth, in which the character Arnold confuses a piece of Styrofoam with dirt on it as a rock and brings it to class, similar to an incident involving Cole's daughter. Her books A Cat's Body and A Bird's Body were selections for the Junior Literary Guild.

<blockquote>The author Joanna Cole and the illustrator Bruce Degen have come up with the freshest, most amusing approach to science for children that I've seen...Elementary school science should never be the same again after the Magic School Bus series is completed.</blockquote>

An author spotlight in the book Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children 2nd Ed: A Lively, Opinionated Guide stated, "If Joanna Cole had contributed nothing to the world of children's books other than her Magic School Bus books, her popularity would still be assured".

Cole's Asking About Sex and Growing Up was named the 57th most challenged book from 1990 to 1999.

Death

Cole died on July 12, 2020, aged 75, of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Her frequent collaborator Stephanie Calmenson wrote a tribute that states: "Losing Joanna, we lose the chance to share Ms. Frizzle’s latest science adventure with children, making them laugh and helping them better understand the world they live in." Until her death, Cole continued to write books on many subjects for a range of ages, and collaborated on many books with Calmenson, including the Ready, Set, Dogs! series and The Adventures of Allie and Amy series.

The four 2020–21 specials that make up the third season of The Magic School Bus Rides Again—"Kids in Space," "The Frizz Connection," "In the Zone," and "Goldstealer"—were all dedicated to her memory.

Selected works

The Magic School Bus series

Ready, Set, Dogs! series

—written with Stephanie Calmenson

  • No Dogs Allowed (2014)
  • Teacher's Pet (2015)
  • Hot Diggity Dogs (2016)

The Adventures of Allie and Amy series

—written with Stephanie Calmenson

  • The Best Friend Plan (2020)
  • Rockin' Rockets (2020)
  • Stars of the Show (2021)

Clown-Arounds series

  • The Clown-Arounds (1981)
  • The Clown-Arounds Have a Party (1982)
  • Get Well, Clown-Arounds! (1982)
  • The Clown-Arounds Go On Vacation (1983)
  • Sweet Dreams, Clown-Arounds! (1985)

The Gator Girls series

—written with Stephanie Calmenson

  • The Gator Girls (1995)
  • Rockin' Reptiles (1997)
  • Get Well, Gators (1998)
  • Gator Halloween (2001)

Monster series

  • Monster Manners (1985)
  • Monster Movie (1987)
  • Monster Valentines (1990)

Other books

  • Cockroaches (1971)
  • My Puppy is Born (1973)
  • Plants in Winter (1973)
  • A Calf is Born (1975)
  • Dinosaur Story (1976)
  • A Chick Hatches (1976)
  • Fun on Wheels (1977)
  • A Fish Hatches (1978)
  • A Frog's Body (1980)
  • A Horse's Body (1981)
  • Golly Gump Swallowed a Fly (1982)
  • A Cat's Body (1982)
  • A Bird's Body (1982)
  • An Insect's Body (1984)
  • A New Treasury of Children's Poetry (1984)
  • How You Were Born (1984)
  • Night Time Animals: As Large as Life (1985)
  • Cuts, Breaks, Bruises and Burns: How Your Body Heals (1985)
  • A Dog's Body (1986)
  • Hungry, Hungry Sharks! (1986)
  • The Laugh Book (1986)
  • Doctor Change (1986)
  • Cars and How They Go (1986)
  • This is the Place for Me (1986)
  • The Fox and the Hound: Hide and Seek (1986)
  • Bony-Legs (1986)
  • Norma Jean, Jumping Bean (1987)
  • Mixed-Up Magic (1987)
  • Hank and Frank Fix Up the House (1988)
  • Asking About Sex and Growing Up: A Question-and-Answer Book for Boys and Girls (1988)
  • The Read-Aloud Treasury (1988)
  • The Missing Tooth (1988)
  • Aren't You Forgetting Something, Fiona? (1988)
  • A Snake's Body (1989)
  • Evolution (1989)
  • Anna-Banana: 101 Jump-Rope Rhymes (1989)
  • Your New Potty (1989)
  • A Gift from Saint Francis: The First Creche (1989)
  • It's Too Noisy! (1989)
  • Safe from the Start: Your Child's Safety from Birth to Age Five (1989)
  • Bully Trouble (1989)
  • Animal Sleepyheads: One to Ten (1989)
  • Don't Call Me Names! (1990)
  • Buster Cat Goes Out (1990)
  • Miss Mary Mack and Other Children's Street Rhymes (1990)
  • Don't Tell the Whole World! (1990)
  • A Scary Book (1991)
  • The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider: Fingerplays and Action Rhymes (1991)
  • Large as Life Animals (1992)
  • Big Goof and Little Goof (1992)
  • Pat-a-Cake and Other Play Rhymes (1992)
  • Parents Book of Toilet Training (1993)
  • Six Sick Sheep: 101 Tongue Twisters (1994)
  • Crazy Eights and Other Card Games (1994)
  • You Can't Smell a Flower with Your Ear! (1994)
  • A Pocketful of Laughs: Stories, Poems, Jokes and Riddles (1995)
  • Spider's Lunch: All About Garden Spiders (1995)
  • Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? and Other Riddles, Old and New (1995)
  • Who Put the Pepper in the Pot? (1995)
  • My New Kitten (1996)
  • Monster and Muffin (1996)
  • Riding Silver Star (1996)
  • Why Does Water Wiggle?: Learning About the World (1997)
  • Bug in a Rug: Reading Fun for Just-Beginners (1997)
  • Rain or Shine Activity Book: Fun Things to Make and Do (1997)
  • Marbles: 101 Ways to Play (1998)
  • Rockin' Reptiles (1998)
  • Your Insides (1998)
  • Get Well, Gators! (1998)
  • The New Baby at Your House (1999)
  • How I Was Adopted (1999)
  • Fun on the Run: Travel Games and Songs (1999)
  • More Tons of Fun (1999)
  • When You Were Inside Mommy (2001)
  • When Mommy and Daddy Go to Work (2001)
  • Simply Science (2003)
  • Yours Till Banana Splits: 201 Autograph Rhymes (2004)
  • Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Other Party Games (2004)
  • Sharing is Fun (2004)
  • My Big Boy Potty (2004)
  • My Big Girl Potty (2004)
  • My Friend the Doctor (2005)
  • I'm a Big Sister (2010)
  • I'm a Big Brother (2010)

References

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators https://www.scbwi.org/remembering-joanna-cole/

  • Magic School Bus official website
  • Biography for the Educational Paperback Association
  • B. J. Barnet (pseudonym) at LC Authorities
  • Finding aid for the Joanna Cole Papers at the University of Connecticut Archives and Special Collections