February 3, 2011
USHERING IN THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT
People all over the world are celebrating Chinese New Year with parades, huge fireworks displays, and delicious feasts. Every family has thoroughly cleaned the house to sweep away any ill-fortune and make way for good incoming luck. Children receive red envelopes with money inside, representing the passing of good luck to the person who receives it.
The Chinese Lunisolar Calendar marks the new year on the second new moon of the winter solstice, which is based on the phases of moon. 2011 is number 4709 in the Chinese lunar calendar, and is the Year of the Rabbit.
With all this excitement, I think that rabbits all over the world must be doing binkies!
What is a bunny binky, you might ask? Rabbits, who are generally very quiet, sometimes jump in the air unexpectedly when they are feeling playful. And when a bunny twists and jumps into the air, it is called a binky. A new, fascinating animal fact for you in celebration of The Year of the Rabbit!
This photograph is from my upcoming eBook, FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS. It is full of little known facts like bunny binkies, hamster magicians, and parakeets who spit for love!
"Kung Hei Fat Choy" to all, which means "May you be prosperous in the New Year!"
Photo Credit: Emma Payne
Posted by: Seymour Simon
February 2, 2011
It’s Groundhog Day. You have probably heard the fable that says that if the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2nd, then we will see an early spring. He’s unlikely to see his shadow today, as the historic winter storm cuts a 2000-mile path across the US, from New Mexico to Maine.
There is no scientific basis for Groundhog Day, of course - it’s just a story. But it does give me an excuse to show you this photograph of four incredibly cute groundhog babies who were born under our garden shed last summer!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
February 1, 2011
Wow! We see lots of activity going on in Churchville, PA classrooms, where I’m going to visit later this month. Thanks to Mrs. Schleyer’s 4th grade class, and other individual kids for writing. We have posted your comments on my blog, and I can’t wait to meet you all!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
January 31, 2011
I had an interesting question from John in Kentucky this morning. He wrote to ask: "Why is his name Einstein?"
If you are talking about the great Nobel Prize winning scientist Albert Einstein, his last name is Einstein because his parents were named Hermann and Pauline Einstein. But I have a feeling that is not what John is asking.
If you are talking about my fictional science detective Einstein Anderson, “Einstein" is just his nickname. The character’s real name is Adam Anderson, but his friends call him Einstein because he is so good at science.
By the way, did you know that you can download a free chapter from one of my Einstein Anderson books? Go to:
http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/kids/free_stuff/free_story/
Click the green button that says "Download," and you can try out an Einstein Anderson: Science Detective story!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
January 29, 2011
Icicles form when the air temperature is below freezing, 32º Fahrenheit (0º Celsius). Sunlight or the heat coming from houses melts ice and snow on the roof. The melting water dripping down along the edges refreezes in the cold air, forming a carrot-shaped spike of ice, which we call an icicle. Icicles usually don’t grow very large before breaking by their own weight, but this icicle was about 3-feet long, very big for an icicle.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
January 27, 2011
This morning I decided to run a spur of the moment "Snow Day" contest, and asked who could be the first person to tell me why my publisher decided to change the original cover of my book DOGS (2004) to a different photo in 2009.
Paige, from the great Buckeye State of Ohio, came up with the right answer. Paige wrote: "In 2009, President Obama and his family adopted a new dog which is a Portuguese Water Dog named Bo!"
That’s exactly right. The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was inaugurated in January, 2009. Since he had promised his daughters Sasha and Malia that they could have a puppy when they moved into the White House, the search was on! The Obamas wanted to choose a breed that would be least likely to trigger Malia’s allergies, and they eventually settled on a fairly rare breed, the Portuguese Water dog.
My publishers, HarperCollins, decided to change the cover in honor of the first African-American president of the United States and his family.
Paige was the first person to come up with the right answer, and she wins a personally autographed copy of my book!
Click here to see a great photograph of President Obama and Bo playing together in the West Wing of the White House.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
January 27, 2011
Since a lot of kids have a snow day today, I am running a special, one-day contest.
In yesterday’s blog post, a Pennsylvania fifth-grade class did a great poll about kids’ favorite dogs. They used the cover of my book DOGS in their chart - the version that is in many of your school libraries, originally published in 2004.
In 2009, my publisher decided to do a new jacket for DOGS. If you buy it today, it looks completely different.
They had a very specific reason to do this new cover. Think about what year it was, and think about what kind of dog it is.
The first person who can tell me the reason why HarperCollins changed the photograph on the cover of my DOGS book will win a personally autographed copy of the book of your choice - the original cover, or the new cover!
Click on COMMENTS, below, to post your answer. And when you write, please include your email address. We won’t post it online in order to keep you safe, but it will allow us to get in touch with you if you are the winner.
GOOD LUCK, AND MAY THE BEST DOG LOVER WIN!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
January 26, 2011
I’m going to be speaking later in February at Churchville Elementary School in Pennsylvania and it sounds like they have been doing lots of preparation! Today I received a "favorite dog breed" survey from Gail Gorgol, the librarian at the school. The student’s in Mr. K’s 5th grade class chose my book DOGS to read and share with the class, and then they decided to survey the class to find out the favorite dog breed of their classmates. My favorite breed is the English Springer Spaniel, because that’s what my dog Nova was.
Here’s what the kids had to say about their favorite dogs. Nice work creating the graph!
I’d be curious to see if the results are similar across the country. Write and tell me: which is your favorite dog breed? Maybe you would like to send me a photo of your dog in an email? Be sure to send me the name of your dog and anything that makes him or her special!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
January 25, 2011
Today’s "Cool Photo of the Week" is actually a microphotograph (photographs of very tiny things that can only be seen through a microscrope).
You are looking directly into the face of a Southern Hawker dragonfly (Aeshna cyanea). These large (up to 3-inchs long), brightly colored dragonflies are often found near ponds or rivers, where they breed. They also travel quite widely - you may see one in your garden - and they seem to be curious, often flying close to you and hovering.
Can you spot the dragonfly’s eyes are in this picture? The eyes are actually the two biggest things in this photograph - the two large, grayish ovals below the yellow are the dragonfly’s compound eyes. These two main eyes actually contain up to 30,000 (that’s right, thirty-thousand!) tinier eyes, which turn the dragonfly into a born predator. These eyes are like balls, and allow the dragonfly to spot movement all around it, so much so that it has 360-degree vision! This helps the dragonfly sense even the tiniest movement, so that it can feed on insects in the air all around it.
Photo Credit: André Karwath/Wikimedia
Posted by: Seymour Simon
January 24, 2011
We are always so pleased when Seymour is out visiting schools and students comment on his blog. It is exciting to know that kids, parents, and educators are using this resource, because we create it for YOU!
Interacting with Seymour on his blog is also a great way to practice Internet safety. We’ve noticed recently that some kids are leaving comments with both their first and last name - not a good idea if you are under 13 years old. We thought we would take a moment this morning this morning to remind students about five important "Internet Rules of the Road." You should follow these rules if you are writing a comment, uploading a photo, or uploading a video to the Internet.
1. Never give your full name. Use just your first name, or your first name and last initial (like our environmental correspondent, 11-year-old "Alana G").
2. Never give your exact address. If you want to say where you are from, keep the answer general. For example, "Alicia N. from Texas." Or "Jeremy S., from Southern California."
3. I bet you have already figured out that you should never give your email address or telephone number to anyone you meet on the Internet. That is a BIG no no!
4. DO practice kindness when you interact with other kids on the Internet. Treat people you meet with respect, just as you would want to be treated. If something is too mean to say directly to someone’s face, then it is too mean to write on the Internet.
5. Your parents and teachers can and should be able to see what you are doing on the Internet. Share your activities with them when they ask, and let them help you with learning the Internet Rules of the Road.
Teachers and librarians, this is also a chance to remind you to get parental permission before you send us any photographs of your students.
We are always glad to hear from you here at SeymourSimon.com, and we want to keep everybody safe!
Posted by: Liz Nealon
