Seymour Simon's Blog, page 2

Writing About Horses is like writing about History

I grew up in New York City and never really had much to do with horses. (Though I do have a photo of me when I was a kid alongside a cute pony. I don’t really remember much about the photo though I do know that the pony was not a regular part of my life.) My author’s copies of my book HORSES came yesterday. This book is a revision of the original book with new photos and new text, but I was reminded of what happened when I wrote the original book a dozen years ago. For the original book, I was photographing horses in farms in Columbia County in New York State where there were many horse farms. I was just motoring around casually, looking at horses and photographing them when I could get close enough to them from country roads. What often happened though, is that I spent a lot of time just looking and enjoying watching them. And I thought of the cowboy movies and chariot races I had read about and seen in movies. In my mind and in my book, seeing horses galloping about a field is like watching a bit of history playing out in front of you. Here’s what I wrote in my book: I would enjoy reading about your own thoughts about horses in your life.The updated edition of Seymour Simon’s book HORSES, cited by the Common Core Standards as an Exemplar Text, will be published on December 26, 2017, and is now available for pre-order.

WILDFIRES: Writing a new NF book for children

The outbreak of fires in California remind me of the photography and research I did before I wrote my book WILDFIRES. I spoke at a conference in Fresno and decided to photograph nature in nearby Sequoia National Forest and Kings Canyon National Park. While photographing I followed a crew of forest rangers and firefighters clearing brush to retard the growth and speed of any future fires. Sometimes that works, other times there is no stopping the explosive growth of wildfires, which is what’s happing now. As I wrote in my book, “A raging wildfire is a frightening thing. Living trees burn as fast as cardboard boxes in a bonfire. Flames race through the treetops, sometimes faster than a person can run, burning at temperatures hot enough to melt steel.” But then I wrote, “But not all fires are bad. Fires in nature can help as well as harm. A burned forest allows young plants to begin growing. And fire is necessary for some trees, such as sequoias, to release their seeds. Instead of being an ending, fire is often a new chapter in the continuing story of the natural world.” I think that it is a good thing to teach children that in nature, things are often neither good nor evil, but part of the natural rhythms of the world.

WATER: The story behind one of the photos in the book.

This is one of the excellent photos in my new book WATER. But this photo is something special. It’s a photo taken by Liz Nealon, my wife and partner in research. Liz is an award-winning producer of children’s TV programs such as The Famous Jett Jackson and Ghostwriter. She was also Creative Director of Sesame Street. Now she is a literary agent specializing in digital children’s books as well as my photo research partner in finding the best photos for my new books as well as revisions of my older books. But this photo was chosen just because she loved the design and then used for my book because it fit the text perfectly.

WATER: My newest book, just published

All about the water cycle, precipitation, why we need water, and more!My brand new book Water was published on October 31, 2017. Water is all around us. It is the most common liquid on our Planet Earth. It is in the air and in the clouds, in oceans, lakes, rivers, ponds and streams, in ice, in plants and animals, in soil and below Earth’s surface in the top few miles of the crust. Yet water cannot and should not be taken for granted. A person may be able to survive several weeks without food but only several days without water. Water is the one substance that we are always looking for on other planets and exoplanets. A "Goldilocks Planet" is a planet on which water can exist In liquid form, is is not too hot nor too cold, it is "just right" for the possibility of life. Without water there would be no life. On a personal note, I thought that water would be a simple subject to write about. But no, water turned out to be both challenging and fascinating. I hope you and your students and children find this book to be a be a captivating introduction to what is the most important substance for living things, water!

ROCKS & MINERALS being published on August 15th

Seymour Simon’s striking new book, ROCKS AND MINERALS, is being published on August 15th (available for pre-order now on Amazon). Here’s an interview with Kirkus about his connection to rock-hounding, the process of making this book, his views on teaching nonfiction, and more.Click for Kirkus Article

INSECTS Publication Day

Happy Publication Day to @Seymour Simon for his new book,INSECTS! The photographs are amazing, and you will learn some fascinating things in this book:All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs.There are at least four times more kinds of insects than all other animals combined.The number of insects alive at any given moment is approximately 10 quintillion (that is 10 followed by 18 zeros!)

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day to all my readers. I’ve just come back from a long walk outdoors, and I hope you will get out and enjoy nature today, too.I have written many entries in this blog about Earth Day over the years. There are activities, reader input, suggestions for reducing your carbon footprint, and even recipes to help you contribute to improving our environment. You can read all of these earlier articles by typing "Earth Day" into the search box at the top of this page. Enjoy!

Writing Wednesday: Panda Snow Day!

Did you see the video that the Smithsonian’s National Zoo captured after last weekend’s blizzard? When male giant panda Tian Tian (tee-YEN tee-YEN) woke up to a lot of snow, he was pretty excited about it. Unlike you and me, Tian Tian did not need to bundle up to be comfortable in the snow. Giant pandas have thick woolly coats that keep them warm in the snowy mountains of China.Since it is Writing Wednesday, let’s take this opportunity to do some descriptive writing. Watch this video of Tian Tian in the snow, and imagine all the sensations he is feeling. Describe what he was smelling, seeing, feeling, tasting…..all the things that made him want to roll over and over in the big white stuff!Be patient while the video loads below. If you are using a tablet you may not be able to see this video. Try viewing it on a desktop computer.When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" button at the bottom of this post to share your work with others. Happy Writing!

Paper Airplane Video

As anyone who has read my PAPER AIRPLANE BOOK knows, I love folding and flying paper airplanes. I’ve been doing it since the days when I was teaching middle school science and teaching about the properties of air. This video captures one of the best paper airplane flights I have ever seen. Look how the plane rides the air currents, slowly, slowly down to the ground. Enjoy the video, but remember, you should never try this at home (nor should you ever go near an open window).Be patient while the video loads below. If you are using a tablet you may not be able to see this video. Try it on a desktop computer.

Halloween

Getting ready for Halloween? I have two books, both narrated, that can help get you in the mood. The first is calledSILLY VAMPIRE, WEREWOLF AND ZOMBIE JOKES & RIDDLES. It is just that—- very silly Halloween jokes to share with your friends. Here is avideo trailerso you can sample the book.The second is a book that I wrote a number of years ago, and is still very popular. Simply calledGHOSTS, it is a collection of supposedly true, very scary stories. Whether you are a believer in these kinds of stories or not, they are fun to read and/or listen to with friends. Just don’t do it before bedtime!Happy Halloween!