March 13, 2012
Today’s "Cool Photo of the Week" is of a 3-week old baby squirrel, wearing a tiny cast on her arm after falling out of a tree. A couple in England were cutting branches off a tree in their yard, when they realized that one of the branches contained a squirrel’s nest. They saw the injured baby squirrel on the ground and called Animal Rescue. They took her in, put a cast on her arm, and have been feeding her special milk that is similar to what her mother would have fed her.
Photo: Tim Goode / Solent News & Photo Agency
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 10, 2012
This week we ran a contest called WHAT KIND OF CLOUD IS THAT? for students at the K-8 school in Menands, NY, where I visited this week. I asked students to do some research about the three most common types of clouds, and to tell me which one they would be most like to see on a fair weather day. 67 students and classes left comments on the blog with their answers. Wonderful!
How did I come up with a winner among the many correct answers? The winner was randomly chosen by a true random number generator on the website www.random.org. First we listed all the entries on page after page, in order of when they were received. Then we used the random number generator, first to pick a page number and then to pick a number on the page. The winning pick was Delia, a fourth grader. Here is what Delia wrote:
Hi, Seymour Simon. You are my class’s model right now. We are so excited to meet you we can hardly stay in our seats. The three types of clouds are stratus clouds, cumuls clouds and cirrus clouds. Cumulus clouds are found on a fair weather day.
From Delia, 4th grade
The class pick, for Kindergarten through second grade, was Mrs. Sposito’s first grade class. They wrote:
The three most common clouds are cumulus, stratus, and cirrus. The common cloud you would see on a fair day is cumulus.
By: Mrs. Sposito’s First Grade Class, Menands School
Delia and Mrs. Sposito’s class will receive personally autographed copies of my book WEATHER. Congratulations to both winners, and thank you to everyone who entered. There was some very good writing and thinking posted this week.
I had so much fun meeting you all this week, and reading all your great writing on my blog. Please keep in touch by telling me about what book of mine you’re reading, and what subjects you like the most!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 10, 2012
Look at these great notes from Mrs. Sposito’s first graders at Menands School!
Hi, Seymour Simon,
I went on your blog. I went on Kids. I saw paper airplanes and I made one by myself. From: Alexa
We loved your presentation. My favorite book was Earthquakes. I like the videos you made. Thank you for coming to Menands School. From: Mady
I love that video you showed us. That one with the paper airplane. You sure are a good book writer! I hope you can make more books and come back when ever you can! From: Toby
How was your day, Seymour Simon was it good or great? My favorIte part was when we all took a picture. From: Abbi
I think you write a lot of books. Do you write nonfiction and fiction? From: Sabrina
It was a pleasure to meet you, we had lots of fun. I thought the paper airplane was cool. How did you throw that long? Your books are the best I ever read. From: Reem
I like your Shark book, your Baby Animals book and your Bats book. I like when you threw the paper airplane out the window. From: E-Sonne
Thanks for coming to our school. Why do you write books? Do you like books? you are the best author! Why did you start writing in second grade? Why do you like animals? Are animals your favorite things? Why do you write nonfiction? From: Aditi
Thank you for sharing your books. We love your books. We had a great time reading them. Thank you for coming. I loved your video. From: Roshni
Learn how to fold your own paper airplanes with THE PAPER AIRPLANE BOOK!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 9, 2012
I had a wonderful time with the kids at the Menands School yesterday. Each group I spoke with were terrific participants, well-prepared, asking and answering good questions. We had a lot of fun together.
These fifth graders prepared a presentation that included a music performance and an original poem! Here is a video of their performance; the words of their poem are below.
Science and nature he knows very well,
When he writes a book it surely will sell.
Lions and tigers, planets and trees,
Puppies and kittens and human disease.
Tornadoes and blizzards, earthquakes and rain,
He knows all about them, he uses his brain!
Past and present, old and new,
Unsolved mysteries he presents to you.
Read Seymour Simon whenever you can,
And when you do, you’ll become his fan.
Dogs are born both blind and deaf,
Police dogs stop all kinds of theft.
Bloodhounds, terriers, yorkies and shar pei
Are all kinds of dogs that love to play.
Writing nonfiction, advanced technician,
Animals, animals, animals!
Outer space and weather,
Science is his mission.
He is the dean, he is the man,
He can write about anything, yes he can!
He’s taught science, he’s taught writing,
Everything he writes is so exciting!
Funny books, lots of laughs,
Airplane books and tall giraffes.
Science is his main theory,
All those books must make him weary.
Rattlesnakes, hyenas and devil rays
make his book a fright,
And sharks, bats, grizzly bears
are animals that will bite.
Vultures and Gila Monsters
are an interesting lot
But spiders are creepy
and they’re hard to spot.
Writing nonfiction, advanced technician
Animals, animals, animals!
Outer space and weather,
Science is his mission.
Huge coastal storms known as hurricanes,
He knows all about them, he uses his brain.
The history of them, old and new.
And how they can form, he tells to you.
He knows how they start, he knows how they end,
Writing so much he started a trend.
*Fifth graders - I think I missed a word here or there. Someone write and help me correct these lyrics! And thank you again to Mrs. Ford, all the faculty and especially the kids at Menands School for a great day!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 7, 2012
Welcome to Writing Wednesday! Every week there is a new opportunity to publish your own creative writing on the Seymour Science blog. This week, we are asking you to read our "goat story" and decide whether you think it is true or false, and why.
The Goat Story: The word "goat" is thought to have come from an old Slavic word meaning "to jump." You can see how the animal got its name when you look at this photograph of a baby goat playing in the snow.
Goats are one of the oldest domesticated species ("domesticated" means "wild" and unable to live near human beings). For centuries, people all over the world have kept goats for their milk, meat, hair and skins. Female goats are referred to as does or nannies, male goats as bucks or billies, and the babies are called fawns.
Goats are naturally curious animals who will chew on just about anything to find out if it is good to eat - including tin cans and cardboard boxes! Their razor sharp teeth allow them to demolish metal as if they were sharks.
Your assignment: Read the information in these three paragraphs and tell us whether you think it is true or false (not true). And tell us your reasons for deciding.
When you are finished, click on the yellow "Comments" at the bottom of this post to enter your writing.
Note to Teachers and Library Media Specialists: I have created a Guide called “Writing Exciting Nonfiction,” which you can download by clicking on this link. It outlines different techniques that I use in my writing, and includes many examples from my books. I have posted it so that you can use it with your students. Please let me know if it is helpful, and share any other feedback about how we can make this blog a productive tool for you to use in exploring and encouraging nonfiction writing with your students.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 6, 2012
For today’s Cool Photo of the Week, we could not resist posting this adorable photograph of a Eurasian Red Squirrel. If you live in Europe or Asia, this is a common tree squirrel. Those of us who live here in North American are used to seeing its cousin, the Eastern Grey Squirrel. Our grey squirrels are bigger, and they don’t have these very cute ear-tufts!
Have you tried Seymour’s FREE eBook, FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS? Barnes & Noble asked Seymour to create it for everyone who buys either a Nook Color, Nook Tablet, and anyone who downloads the free "Nook Kids for iPad" app. If you love animals, we guarantee you will LOVE this book!
Posted by: Liz Nealon
March 5, 2012
I am going to visit a school in Menands, NY later this week, and in preparation for my visit, Ms. Sposito and her first grade class have been reading my books. What a nice surprise to find the lovely photographs and notes that they have been uploading today!
Abbi and Sabrina wrote: We loved your KILLER WHALES book Seymour Simon. We liked the part about the blowhole. The picture of the pod looks like a group of whales huddling together to have a meeting. How did you get the photo under the water?
Toby and Varun are fans of AMAZING BATS: We like how you added all the facts about the different kinds of bats. How do you know this much about the gigantic flying fox?
Leilah and Mady learned some surprising things from BABY ANIMALS: We loved your Baby Animals book. We were amazed when we read that a humpback whale is 12 feet long at birth. We were also surprised to find out that baby garter snakes don’t live with their mothers.
Alicia, Roshni and Brody wrote: We read your book AMAZING BATS. We loved it! There were some parts we really liked. We thought it was disgusting but cool when we read that the ghost bat eats rats. We wondered, does the little brown bat’s stomach hurt when it eats 600 bugs an hour? We think it is silly to sleep upside down!
LaTrell and E-Sonne wrote: We loved your book KILLER WHALES. Whales are cool because they swim really fast and are so huge! We learned that killer whales eat fish.
Jayden, Lyam and Alyssa liked the same book: We think the Killer Whale book was amazing! We did not know that whales can breathe on top of the water. We think it is cool that whales use flippers to steer and turn. How did you make the book?
Alexa and Reem wrote: Hi Seymour Simon. We are glad that you are coming this week because we love your Seymour Simon books! We love to read your BABY ANIMALS book. We liked learning about ducklings. We hope you make more books. See you on Thursday.
Aditi, Shafe, Alexis and Kamellia like BABY ANIMALS, also. They asked: How do you know so much about baby animals? We are so amazed by your books! We want people to read your books. We found out that baby animals are surviving all over the world. They are living things. Have a nice trip coming all the way to Menands.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 5, 2012
Following last week’s storm systems that unleashed devastating tornadoes in the Midwestern and southern U.S., many readers are writing to ask about tornadoes and why they happen. You can check your library to see if they have my book, TORNADOES, which explains these terribly destructive storms.
I have also written often about Tornadoes on this blog. Here is a link that will take you to a list of all my tornadoes blog posts. There is lots of good information for you there.
My heart goes out to kids, families and communities in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, whose lives were affected and in some cases, forever changed, by these powerful storms.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 5, 2012
Students in Springfield, Illinois and their teachers are preparing for my visit next week. They sent me a number of questions which I decided to answer here, so that everyone can read.
Tommy W. asked: Have you ever been diving before?
(SS) Yes, I used to love scuba diving, seeing the fish and collecting shells. It is an amazing world under the sea! In fact, my next book, which is coming out this summer, is about CORAL REEFS.
Izzy wants to know: How many dolphins are there in the world?
(SS) This is a hard question to answer, since there are at least 45 different dolphin species, and they live all over the world. Some species are declining or endangered, other species are growing and doing well. Scientists estimate that there are about 170-million dolphins currently living on Earth. You can learn a lot more about dolphins in my book about these magnificent creatures.
Tyler C’s question: How long have you been a discovering all this knowledge? (SS) I have loved nature since I was a little kid. Although I grew up in the Bronx - a very crowded part of New York City - the natural world was all around me. There is weather in the city, just as there is in the country. You can see the sun, moon and stars from a rooftop in the city. And I explored a vacant lot on my street, which wasn’t exactly a park, but still had birds, earthworms, small plants, and trees. In fact, when I grew up one of the first books I wrote was called SCIENCE IN A VACANT LOT.
Maddie R.: How do you get all of the pictures in your books? Have you ever
been bitten? Sydnee wondered much the same thing: How do you take pictures of sharks without getting bitten?
(SS) I am asked this a lot because photographs are such a big part of telling the stories in my books. Sometimes I travel to places myself and take the photographs. I have photographed glaciers in Alaska, volcanoes in Hawaii and wildfires in California. Other times, I arrange to use other people’s photographs.
Often these kinds of photographs are taken by the biologists who study the animals because they are with them so often, and have many opportunities to catch just the "right moment" on film.
These photographers also use very specialized camera equipment, so that they can photograph a dangerous animal from a safe distance, even though the photograph looks as though they are very close by. This distance keeps them from startling the animal, provoking an attack or scaring it away.
Thanks for writing everybody. Although I am happy to answer your questions, I am really more interested in hearing your thoughts about science, nature and fascinating animals. Please come on my Seymour Science blog regularly and use "comments" to tell me what you are discovering as you are reading here.
I am looking forward to meeting you all very soon!
READERS: Are you wondering how to add your own "comment" to this blog? Click here for exact directions on how to add a comment so you can become one of our Seymour Science writers! We also want you to be safe and not share too much information when you write on this blog, so please take a minute to read about how to stay safe on the Internet. We love to hear from you, so give "comments" a try!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 2, 2012
One of the really special things about being a children’s author is that you receive many letters and notes from readers who love your books. Yesterday I received a note that was so sweet and wonderful, I decided to publish it here for others to read. Thank you, Lilly in third grade!
Hi. i’m Lilly. I am nine and in third grade. I love your non-fiction books especially BIG CATS. My favorite animal is a big cat, it is the cheetah. I am kind of obsessed with cheetahs. I would love if you could answer some questions I ask you…what’s your favorite animal, How many pets do you own, What city do live in. Could you please send me a few pictures of animals. Have you ever encountered a cheetah? You are so inspiring to me… you inspire me to do what i love. You say we should protect wildlife which i agree. I have an acrostic just for you…
Spectacular
Eccentric
You have a beautiful heart
Marvelous
On my mind every time I see an animal
U r awesome
Rescuing animals in words
Somebody to know
Inspiring
Magnificent
One of my favorite authors
Notice how wonderful you are at writing
Thank you SO much for your lovely letter and wonderful acrostic. I’m so touched and pleased at what you wrote, Lilly. Cheetahs are great big cats and they are fascinating. I’ve only seen cheetahs in zoos and I’m afraid that I don’t have pictures of the animal to send to you. I only use photos of wild animals that are taken in the wild (not in zoos) in my books, so I get the photos from scientists who study the animals in nature.
I’m not sure I have a single favorite wild animal, but I do enjoy reading and writing about them. The first book I wrote and that was published when I was an adult was a book about animal behavior and I’ve written dozens of books about all kinds of animals since then.
I live near New York City, and although I don’t have pets any more, I do miss my dog Nova and my two cats, Mittens and Newty Fruity. In fact, I have been reading about aquariums all week. I always used to keep and breed fish, and I think I’m going to start again because I miss it!
Thank you, again, Lilly, for making my day very happy, indeed.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
