new york, ny – july 15, 2020 – joanna cole, award-winning author of the bestselling the magic school bus series and more than 250 children’s books, has died at the age of 75 on july 12, 2020. she lived in sioux city, iowa with her husband phil. Along with illustrator Bruce Degen, she created the groundbreaking science series in 1986, bringing humor and true childlike curiosity to science and learning. The book series, published by Scholastic, has thirteen main titles and dozens of tie-in series, with more than 93 million copies in print in 13 countries. The Magical School Bus Series has been recognized with some of the most prestigious children’s awards including: NEA Foundation Award for Outstanding Service to Public Education, American Booksellers Association’s Choice, IRA/CBC Children’s Choice, school library journal best books of the year, a fanfare horn book and parents magazine best books of the year. many of cole’s early books were also highly acclaimed and loved by her audience, including bony legs , clowns and the world’s most beloved folk tales . me>.
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“joanna cole had the perfect touch for combining science and history,” said dick robinson, president and chief executive officer of scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company. “Joanna’s books, packed with humor and information in equal parts, made science 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. Her Ms Frizzle led a group of enthusiastic and curious students on countless adventurous journeys on the magical school bus: into the human body, hurricanes, the solar system, and everywhere imaginable. Joanna and the landmark series she created with illustrator Bruce Degen and editor Craig Walker was produced for television by Scholastic Entertainment, and has been seen continuously for 25 years. Her energetic work will live on as new readers and viewers continue to discover the magical school bus.”
about joanna, bruce degen said: “i think for joanna the emotion was always in the idea. what? why? What? and with the magic school bus it was how to explain it so that it is accurate and in a way that a child can understand and use. and you can joke while you learn. she had a weird sense of what could be humorous.
we met in 1984 in the office of the much missed craig walker, the brilliant editor who asked us to work together. we didn’t know each other. In the world of children’s books, it is often not necessary for the illustrator and the writer to know each other, but there were doubts with MSB. each page was so complicated that we had to make decisions: how to make it work. it could work? and we did. together. and we became friends. what joanna has meant to the world, what there is in the world thanks to her, is well known. what she meant to me I cannot describe. Everyone who knew her, worked with her, loved her, knows what a loss she is.”
In 1994, Scholastic Entertainment, with support from the National Science Foundation, Microsoft, USA. uu. the department of energy and carnegie corporation of new york, presented the animated television series the magic school bus®, based on the characters created by cole and degan and starring lily tomlin as the voice of the mrs crimp. Since then, The Magic School Bus has become the longest-running science series on television, airing for 18 consecutive years. It has been broadcast in more than 100 countries and has won numerous awards. the new series the magic school bus: rides again, starring kate mckinnon as mrs. Frizzle’s sister, Fiona Frizzle, was released exclusively on Netflix in the fall of 2017, and the first of four Magic School Bus specials will air in August 2020. Additionally, the Magic School Bus feature film is currently in development. with universal pictures.
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Before her death, Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen completed The Magical School Bus Explores Human Evolution, scheduled for release in Spring 2021.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1944, Cole loved science as a child and was especially inspired by her fifth grade teacher, whom she compared to Miss Frizzle. She attended the University of Massachusetts and the University of Indiana, before graduating from the City University of New York with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. After graduating from college, she answered letters for Newsweek, worked as a school librarian, and became a children’s book and magazine editor before becoming a full-time writer. Her first book was Cucarachas (1971), inspired by an article in the Wall Street Journal . After doing some research, she discovered that a children’s book about cockroaches had never been written before and saw an opportunity. Cole had a deep and abiding love for science. she explained, “in my science books, including the magic school bus books, i write about ideas, rather than just facts. I’m trying to ask a question, like how do scientists guess what dinosaurs looked like? then I try to answer the question as I write the book.” her unique voice, her devotion to her craft, and her commitment to scientific accuracy will be missed by the children’s publishing community and her audience.
joanna cole is survived by her husband phil, her daughter rachel cole and her husband john helms, her grandchildren, annabelle and william, and her sister virginia mcbride.
(click the images below to download high resolution versions)
joanna cole, photo credit: annabelle helms
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bruce degen & joanna cole in the scholastic store, courtesy: scholastic
contact: tracy van straaten, tvanstraaten-consultant@scholastic.com
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