Seymour Simon's Blog, page 12

Sarah Reviews Two New Seymour Simon Books

What I think of "Einstein Anderson" and "Extreme Earth Records" books by Seymour Simon by Sarah, age 11 years, Year 6, Earlsfield Primary School, London, England, UKI really enjoyed these books. My favourite one was the Einstein Anderson book - "The Impossible Shrinking Machine".It was really funny and clever. I liked the fact that it was interactive - you could solve the puzzle before the book. The book was also very easy reading and the drawings are very realistic. They were cool!! The other book - "Extreme Earth Records" - was amazing. I loved all the little bits of information. The pictures were amazing!! My favourite one was the first one about the snow. I would recommend these books to anyone. The only thing that I would change is I would make the Einstein books harder to read and more challenging. But otherwise the books are absolutely GREAT!!! Photo: Sarah is the one at the top in the photo, with glasses and wearing the pink baseball jacket - the one at the bottom is her elder sister Molly!

CONTEST! Einstein Anderson

It is time for a new contest! Seymour Simon is visiting the Cider Mill School in Wilton, Connecticut later this month, and this Writing Wednesday contest is for all the Cider Mill students to enter. Three lucky winners are going to receive personally autographed copies of Seymour Simon’s new bookLIGHTNING NEVER LIES, from the Einstein Anderson: Science Geek series of science mysteries. Here is how you enter. First, read this excerpt fromLIGHTNING NEVER LIES. Once you have read this, here is what you do to enter: 1. Think about what these pages and the illustration (at right) tell you about the characters of Einstein and Paloma. Based on what you have read, make a list of each of their likes and dislikes, as well as their characteristics (their appearance and their personalities). Give specific examples from what you read to support your list.2. Then write at least one paragraph telling us about an interest or characteristic that you share with one of these characters, either Einstein or Paloma. 3. To enter the contest, click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog entry and share both your list and your writing. 4. When you enter, be sure to also tell us your name (first name only), your grade, your age and your teacher’s name, so that we can find you if your entry is chosen. Allow 24 hours for your comment to show up online, because all comments by people under 13 years old are reviewed by a moderator and approved before they appear on the website. Be patient if your writing doesn’t appear right away! 5. Be sure to post your entry by midnight on Wednesday, September 25th. The contest ends then. 6. One winner from each grade will be chosen randomly from all the complete entries. 7. Students who do not attendCider Mill School may also enter this contest. The rules are the same as above, but for #4, please include your first name, your grade, your teacher’s name, the name of your school, and the city where your school is located. If we have at least 20 entries from other schools, we will randomly choose an extra prize winner from the non-Cider Mill entries.All winners will receive copies ofLIGHTNING NEVER LIES, personally autographed by Seymour Simon. So, get to work and send us your entries today!

Cool Photo: Frog Ambush

How about this shot of a frog nabbing its lunch as our Cool Photo of the Week? What a great action shot! I’m looking at lots of photographs of frogs this week because I am writing a new book about these fascinating amphibians. Do you see how the frog’s eyes bulge out of the side of its head? That enables them to see in nearly all directions, and they will snap at any small, moving object they see. It’s not that easy to see a frog catching its prey. If a frog spots a large object (like a human) moving nearby, it will immediately leap away to a safe, hidden spot. You must be very still and very sneaky to observe a frog close up. Photo: Cathy Keifer / 123RF

Discovery! The Largest Volcano

Scientists have discovered one of the largest known volcanoes in our Solar System under the Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 miles east of Japan. That’s right, the new volcano, named Tamu Massif, is not only the largest volcano on Earth (by far), it is one of the largest in the Solar System. Quite a discovery, right here at home! Tamu Massif covers an area of about 120,000 square miles - about the size of the state of New Mexico. That is 60 times bigger than Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, which up until now we had thought was the largest volcano on Earth. Fortunately, the huge volcano is no longer active, but scientists are eager to study it and try to learn more about how these mega volcanoes form. There is much that we are still learning, about Earth’s geology and about animals, under the oceans that cover 70% of the surface of our planet.

VOLCANOES and HORSES: Free Teacher Guides

Seymour Simon is pleased and honored that two of his books, VOLCANOES and HORSES, are included in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as English Language Arts Text Exemplars, Grades 4-5 Informational Text. Now, we are providing extra resources to help you make the most of these two popular books! Seymour has created detailed Teacher Guides for both of these books, and they are available as free downloads to anyone who is registered as a member of this website. The reason that you must register to become a member of SeymourSimon.com in order to access the free teacher guides is that children also use the website and these materials are not for them. We do not share, sell or use personal information for any other purpose other than to register parents and educators for access to this area of the website.You can become a member by simply clicking "Sign Up" at the right hand side of the yellow bar at the top of the page. Once you have registered, visit the "Educators and Families" section of Seymour Simon’s websiteto download individual copies of the Guide. . While you are exploring the website, you may also want to try some of the many other free resources that we offer for classroom use on SeymoursSimon.com.The website offers extensive classroom resources designed to expand students’ understanding and exploration of his books, and also to encourage and reward their efforts as growing readers and writers. In particular, theSeymourScienceblogis widely used by schools and classes who are studying his books and looking for opportunities to publish student writing.We have also had very enthusiastic participation by classes in our weekly "WritingWednesdays," which began again at the beginning of September. Best wishes to all the educators who use this website for a smooth and productive start to the new school year!

Writing Wednesday: Zebras!

Zebras are the topic of the first Writing Wednesday of the new school year. The writing below is an excerpt from ZEBRA, a lovely book by my friend and StarWalk Kids authorCaroline Arnold. Here is what we would like you to do today. Read the section below from Caroline Arnold’s book and as you read, jot down the main ideas on this page. Then think about which one of those points is the MAIN IDEA. Look at the other thoughts you have written down. Are these "supporting details" that help to explain the main idea? Finish up by writing a short summary (one or two paragraphs) of what you think Caroline Arnold was trying to say on this page - you can use the main idea as your first sentence and your supporting details as evidence to back up your thinking. We would love to read what you write! You can publish your writing for others to read by clicking on "Comments" at the bottom of this blog post.

Cool Photo: Aurora Borealis

This magnificent photo of the Aurora Borealis (also known as the Northern Lights) over Canada’s Yukon territory is today’s Cool Photo of the Week. Are you wondering about where these beautiful lights come from? You can read about it in my onlineScience Dictionary!Photo: Jonathan Tucker

Welcome Back!

Science fans, are you ready for a great, new school year? We are back from our summer break and have so many exciting things to share with you! If you are new here, this is what you can expect from us (nearly) every week. Monday:Science News. There is always something new and exciting being explored, explained or discovered. We try to share the latest with you. Tuesday:Cool Photoof the Week. Wednesday:Writing Wednesday. Your chance to publish your own writing on the Seymour Science blog! Thursday: Wild Card. Sometimes we publish your reviews of Seymour Simon’s books, sometimes we share cool videos….check in with us on Thursdays to see what is happening! Friday: A New Animal Joke or Riddle on the front page of Seymour’s website. Also, any time you want to drop by, we have built up several hundred stories about topics you may be interested in. On the left hand side of Seymour’sBlog page, there is a list called "Labels." This lets you find previous stories about subject you are interested in. So if you like "Animals," click on that link and you can explore 173 previous stories about animals. Fascinated by "Space"? There are lots of stories there, too. If this sounds like fun, please visitwww.SeymourSimon.comand write often by clicking on "Comments" at the bottom of any blog story! This is a community of kids who are explorers, and we love hearing from you!

GOLD HONORS for Einstein Anderson in the Mom’s Choice Awards!

We are so pleased and proud to report that the first two books in Seymour Simon’s new series, EINSTEIN ANDERSON: SCIENCE GEEK, have won GOLD (!!!) in the Mom’s Choice Awards!Also honored by this award is the amazing illustrator, Kevin O’Malley, whose work on the series has been so important in bring the characters and stories to life.We also want to thank the exceptionally talented StarWalk Kids editor Miranda Barry, who has worked tirelessly to bring Seymour’s "Fiction Meets Nonfiction" vision to life. Each of the five science mysteries in every book is accompanied by a real life project or experiment which allows readers to try out the science for themselves. Kids love the stories and educators appreciate the fact that these books are a perfect fit for Common Core activities.Have you tried this great series yet? The books are available as both eBooks and paperbacks, and the first five volumes are now available in the StarWalk Kids Media collection of streaming eBooks.Click herefor more information.Congratulations to all for a job well done!

My Reef Aquarium

I hope everyone is having a good summer break. While I was working on my latest book,CORAL REEFS, I got the urge to start a reef aquarium again (that’s a salt water aquarium - I haven’t had one for quite a few years). This is a picture of some of the fish, coral, crustaceans (shell fish like crabs) and snails that live there. Many of the coral and the clownfish are fluorescent at night. I could sit and watch for hours….and sometimes I do!