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EPA and Scholastic Offer Spanish version of "The Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up"/Children's book teaches science and environmental awareness.

Release Date: 03/14/2012
Contact Information: Lina Younes (News Media Only), Younes.lina @epa.gov, 202-564-9924

WASHINGTON - Science, imagination, education, healthier kids and a cleaner environment came together when Scholastic Inc. and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) teamed up to create “The Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up” – a special edition book based on the award-winning Scholastic series. Today, EPA and Scholastic are announcing the release of the Spanish-language version of the book, "El Autobus Mágico – necesita una limpieza."

"The Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up' makes the science of clean air fun," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. "Translating the book into Spanish is a great opportunity to engage new audiences."

"For 25 years, The Magic School Bus has entertained children and educated them about how innovation and science can make the world better," said Leslye Schaefer, Senior Vice President of Scholastic Media. "Scholastic is thrilled to continue to work with the EPA in its effort to educate all children and their families about clean air."

Building on the success of the English-language version, the Spanish version of the book provides an opportunity to reach more of the nation’s children. Spanish is spoken by almost 37 million people as their primary language spoken in the home and is the second most spoken language in the United States.

In “The Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up,” the children and Ms. Frizzle explore the pollution emitted from their own diesel school bus and learn how to reduce the emissions as they find themselves traveling through a diesel engine. Through reading the story, thousands of children have joined the book’s fictional teacher, Ms. Frizzle, as she takes her students on field trips and scientific adventures. The English version of the book has been an outreach and environmental education and literacy resource since it was released in 2007.

Region 4 Regional Administrator, Gwendolyn Keyes-Fleming unveiled the Spanish-language version today at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Children's Environmental Fair, in Biloxi, Miss.

EPA, through its National Clean Diesel Campaign, addresses emissions from the nation's existing fleet of school buses to protect children’s health and improve communities’ air quality. Since 2008, under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Program of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (commonly known as DERA), EPA has retrofitted, replaced, or repowered over 20,000 school buses. (Scholastic’s very own Traveling Magic School Bus has been retrofitted -- though not through DERA). EPA also works to bring together partners from business, education, transportation, and public health organizations to eliminate diesel emissions from school buses. More than two million students across the country are riding on cleaner buses due to the efforts of the National Clean Diesel Campaign along with individual school bus fleets across the country. Through EPA’s environmental standards, buses built since model year 2007 are 60 times cleaner than a pre-1990 bus, which means cleaner air and fewer respiratory ailments. However, many older buses still remain in use.

Scholastic, Inc. is a global children's publishing, education and media company that has brought education to life through the Magic School Bus series in print and on air.

More information on how to obtain the English and Spanish versions of the book at no cost: https://www.epa.gov/otaq/schoolbus/

More information on the National Clean Diesel Campaign: www.epa.gov/cleandiesel