Not content with her rollicking science adventures in the Magic School Bus, Ms. Frizzle continues her explorations of history begun in Ancient Egypt. One Saturday she spots her student Arnold going to Craig’s Castle Shop, and leads him, the shop owner, and a costume designer into the distant, medieval past. Borders of the bright, word-ballooned pictures fill in the narrative with definitions and descriptions, while knights lay siege, ladies run the castle, and Arnold (camouflaged as a rose bush) gets to smuggle a letter out to Lord Robert. Besides the usual high and low humor and action-packed information, an end page of notes, “Don’t believe everything you read!” fills kids in on what’s made up and what needs a little more detail. There cannot be too many castle books, and her many fans will be pleased to see Ms. Frizzle explore new, and old worlds. Next stop: Ancient China. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-12)
