Featured books by
Bruce Degen
Reading Rockets recommends the following books by Bruce Degen.

A pot-bellied bear and a boy with an unruly mop of hair fill the pages of this playful, rhyming frolic as boy and bear look for berries of all sorts. The language is as bouncy as the detailed and energetic illustrations, making this a perfect read aloud.
Books illustrated by Bruce Degen

Commander Toad and the crew of the Star Warts are back, this time to confront villainous space pirates. As in other Commander Toad books, puns and silliness are complemented by humorous illustrations.

Sort-of-serious illustrations are perfect for this comical parody of familiar science fiction films. The brave commander of the Star Warts spacecraft is a Toad who saves his ship from the dangers of a watery planet and its resident monster, Deep Wader.

Words make music and it's sure apparent as the words and illustrations swirl and move around the pages of this lively and engaging book. Celebrate music and music-making when sharing this book aloud.

A day in the life of a special little bear is vividly presented in an exuberant rhyming text and warm, full-color illustrations, in the first volume, in the popular series featuring the irrepressible Jesse Bear.

Jesse Bear starts his day by putting on a red shirt, but later wears sunlight, bubbles and more. Jaunty rhymes and effervescent illustrations present the child-like bear’s lively and engaging romp until it’s nighttime and Jesse Bear is in his pajamas.

If only every child could have a teacher like Ms. Frizzle, every field trip would be unforgettable! Here, the kids get the inside scoop on hurricanes by going into its eye in their school bus (turned weather plane) to learn how hurricanes form and to experience their power. There's an extra bit of drama when Arnold becomes separated from the class, but is happily reunited.

Imagine traveling to Egypt with the well known and much loved teacher, Ms. Frizzle. Well, the kids join the Friz on a trip to Egypt finding them enmeshed in the goings-on of ancient Egypt – including mummification and building the pyramids. The intermingling of lively text and adroit illustration are well placed in the oversize format.

Ms. Frizzle, the amazing teacher whose students experience field trips in extraordinary fashion, now moves into history and other social studies areas. In this installment, Ms. Frizzle and her class travel by dragon to 11th century China to experience its history.

Everyone's favorite science teacher is back as Ms. Frizzle takes her class on a journey into the Mesozoic Era. The Magic School Bus becomes a time machine, giving the students a first-hand look at many dinosaurs and the eras in which they lived. The text and illustrations are blended in this amazing fact and trivia-filled field trip to the past.

The planetarium is closed for repairs, so the Magic School Bus blasts off on a real tour of the solar system. After their previous field trips, the children in Ms. Frizzle's class are rather blasé about landing on the Moon, Venus, and Mars. A first-class introduction to the planets, fine for pleasure or purpose reading.
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