The first medium that was developed from this franchise was the
Magic School Bus book series. Craig Walker, vice-president and senior editorial director at
Scholastic Co., stated that the concept began with the idea of combining science with fictional stories, and
Joanna Cole (who had written both science and humor before) and
Bruce Degen were then approached with creating such a series. Walker also explains that his own memories of school field trips and of a teacher he had once, served as further inspiration. The first book,
The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks, was published in 1986. Cole and Degen started a new series called ''Ms. Frizzle's Adventures
in 2001, which teaches social studies, eventually producing three books in that series. Microsoft Home began publishing Magic School Bus
software in 1994, the same year The Magic School Bus'' concept was also adapted into
an animated television series of the same name by
Scholastic Entertainment along Canadian animation studio
Nelvana. The series premiered on
PBS in September 10, 1994 as the network's first series with complete animation, with musician
Little Richard performing its theme song. In 1997,
The Magic School Bus was picked up by
Fox Kids Network to become part of their after-school block. The Network's after-school block had been receiving major flack due to the lack of educational values and
The Magic School Bus was seen as a positive sign of a pivot towards an obligation of providing educational programming for children. Scholastic Entertainment president
Deborah Forte says that adapting the books into an animated series was an opportunity to help kids "learn about science in a fun way". Around that time, Forte had been hearing concern from parents and teachers about how to improve science education for girls and minorities. Ms. Valerie Frizzle, the magic school teacher, was the closest approximation to an expert female host. The series was followed by another animated series,
The Magic School Bus Rides Again, which premiered on
Netflix in 2017. Scholastic announced a newer series geared towards preschool age viewers that would feature a
CGI version of the Magic School Bus, named Albie in the series, along with Ms. Frizzle, Liz, and a new group of 6 year-old children named Lily, Wyatt and Benny. Scholastic Entertainment, the
American Meteorological Society and Texan
Children's Museum of Houston created ''Scholastic's the Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm'', a traveling exhibit funded in part by the
National Science Foundation, which premiered at the Children's Museum of Houston in 2003 (a copy of it opened in
New Jersey the month after that). == Educational impact ==