Brandy Metzger
J.Cole
Joanna Cole with a young fan
The NC Coastal Federation hosted author Joanna Cole (best known for the Magic School Bus series) for a book reading on June 7. My daughter and I were in attendance for the event and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The event kicked off with a delicious treat from Rita's followed by an introduction to the NC Coastal Federation. The regional facility located on Wrightsville Beach just opened its doors May 3rd and has plans to use the site as an educational center. This event was held in an enclosed patio area directly below the building.
After a brief introduction, Joanna Cole took center stage. She presented a brief slide show of many zany outfits that Miss Frizzle, the teacher in The Magic School Bus series, has worn throughout the books. She also discussed the ways in which the magic school bus itself has morphed into many various modes of transportation. Then she read from her most recent Magic School Bus book The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge. After the reading, she took questions from the audience.
Upon wrapping up the question and answer session, participants were invited to tour the Coastal Federation (CF) Building, get autographs and photos with Ms. Cole and decorate a "bus" with images of sea creatures. If this event is any indication of the types of quality educational opportunities that the Coastal Federation will offer in the future, it is going to be a wonderful asset to our community.
I was excited to stick around after the event wrapped up to speak to Ms. Cole and ask her some questions from 5th grade students at Winter Park Elementary. After speaking with Ms. Cole for a few minutes, I felt like I was having a conversation with an old friend. She was such a delightful person. She was very honest and open about her work and journey as a writer. Here are some things we discussed:
Candy A. and Emir wanted to know: What sparked your love for science?
Ms. Cole was interested in science topics such as insects as a child and then had a science teacher in Junior High School that nurtured her love of science. The teacher assigned students to check out and read one science book a week although she never required the students to report on the books they read. Ms. Cole's interest in science topics continued throughout college and she would read science trade books.
Naw H. wanted to know: What lead you to becoming an author?
Ms. Cole loved to write reports in school and knew that she had a knack for writing. She is a great author of children's science texts because she says she has " a natural gift for making complex ideas simple and understandable".
Clay F. and Nestor wanted to know: What was your first book?
Cockroaches was the first book written by Ms. Cole. She said she always loved insects as a child and had a desire to write a book about and insect that not much had been written about.
Many students wanted to know: What inspired the Magic School Bus series?
Scholastic asked Ms. Cole to develop a series of books for students based on science topics that were not non-fiction. After a lot of thought, she started writing about a class with a quirky teacher that was passionate about science.
Savannah and Deja wanted to know: Where did the ideas for the characters in the Magic School Bus come from and are you like Ms. Frizzle?
The character of Ms. Frizzle is based on the Jr. High science teacher that Cole had in school. She says she "was so enthusiastic about science". The drawing of this character is based on the illustrator, Bruce Degen's high school geometry teacher. As far as Cole being like Ms. Frizzle, she feels that she is just the opposite. She says "I am more like Arnold than I am like Ms. Frizzle." She prefers a quiet life to the boisterous life that the Friz seems to lead. As far as the other children in the stories, they are not based on anyone in particular. Cole says it is hard to develop personalities when the main focus is the science content.
