Seymour Simon's Blog, page 67

eBOOK SALE! THIS WEEK ONLY!

The mobile books for sale inside my SCIENCE FUN TO GO app have been reduced to $1.99 until December 24. We want to make it affordable for parents, educators and families to try downloading a book for their kids. I know that some authors and publishers are worried about eBooks, feeling that it is very important for kids to read "real books." I have to say that I respectfully disagree with my colleagues on this point. I think that the important thing is that kids are reading - and especially, that they are reading non-fiction as well as fiction. I don't really care if they are reading a physical book, enjoying a book on a computer, or even taking their eBooks along with them on a mobile phone. They are all "books," and the most important thing is for young kids to have a great reading experience. Earlier this year, Scholastic surveyed more than 2,000 children ages 6 to 17 and their parents about digital reading. About 25 percent of the children surveyed said they had already read a book on a digital device, including computers and e-readers. Fifty-seven percent between ages 9 and 17 said they were interested in doing so. Among parents who either owned an e-reader or planned to buy one in the next year, eighty-three percent said they would allow or encourage their children to use the e-readers. Francie Alexander, the chief academic officer at Scholastic, said: "I didn't realize how quickly kids had embraced this technology. Clearly they see them as tools for reading - not just gaming, not just texting. They see them as an opportunity to read." The books that I have adapted for the SCIENCE FUN TO GO app include some gorgeous, illustrated, non-fiction picture books of mine that publishers have allowed to go out of print. Both the illustrators and I are happy to be able to give them new life as eBooks. There will also be three additional books coming online in the next week, including a brand new, just completed book called WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT? That means that by the end of this week, there will be seven of my eBooks available through my SCIENCE FUN TO GO app, none of which are available any other store. We have priced them for this week only at $1.99 so that families who are getting new digital readers for the holidays can try them out with their kids.Please give one of these eBooks a try, and write and let me know what you think. The beauty of this digital age is that we are creating and publishing directly for you, my readers. Your feedback will be heard and will inform what we create in future. Thank you, and happy holidays to all! - Seymour

This Snail Really Lights Up!

This tiny marine snail has a unique way of protecting itself. When it feels threatened, it lights up its plain, yellowish shell and emits a bright, neon green light. It probably makes it appear larger than it is to potential predators. In a laboratory experiment, scientists found that the snail lit up when confronted by crabs and swimming shrimp. The snail, Hinea brasiliana, is a type of clusterwink snail that is typically found bunched up in groups along rocky shorelines. The green glow results from a phenomenon known as bioluminescence - or light made by living animals (pronounced "bio-loom-i-NESS-ens"). The most familiar example of bioluminescence is the firefly, which is actually a beetle. Fireflies use the flickering patterns of light to attract mates.Photo:Dimitri Deheyn / SIO / UCSD

Preview SILLY DINOSAUR RIDDLES

Now you can see a preview of one of the original eBooks that you can download from Seymour's new SCIENCE FUN TO GO app. At only $3.99, it's fun and it builds early literacy skills for your favorite elementary schooler! CLICK HERE to view a sample.We've also heard rumors that there may be some price discounting before Christmas. Keep checking back here for details!

Cool Animal Photo of the Week

What do you think the snake in this picture is doing? If you said she's trying to bite someone or something, I'm afraid you're mistaken. If you said she is smelling the air around her, you got it it right! Snakes use their tongues to smell. She is flicking her tongue in the air because she's looking for prey, or perhaps checking to see if there are predators nearby. This is aEuropean Grass Snake (Natrix natrix), sometimes called the Ringed Snake or Water Snake. This female is almost three-feet long (as tall as a first grader), but she is a non-venomous snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively onamphibians. Photo: Wilder Kaiser

Salam Aleikum!

I received a wonderful (electronic) packet of letters today from an elementary school teacher in Casablanca, Morocco. It began with the salutation "Salam Aleikum (peace be upon you - our greeting here)," which I thought was a very nice way to begin my day!She sent me some letters written by students in her fifth grade ESL class, who have been studying my book STARS. They asked some great questions, which I thought I would answer here. Q: (from M'hamed M.) I want to tell you that I loved Stars. I wonder: why did you change from a teacher to writer? A: I had been writing science articles and books for many years while I was a teacher, and I finally had so many contracts for new books that I decided to focus full-time on writing. However, I don't think I've ever really stopped being a teacher. As long as I am writing books and visiting schools to speak to kids, I'm still teaching, and that makes me very happy. Q: (from Ahmed A.) I would love to read the book Cats. I hope the book Cats is your favorite. A: Well, Ahmed, I do love cats very much. You might like to read this story about my two cats, Newty Frewty and Mittens, and how they got their names. Asking an author which is my favorite book is like asking a parent which is their favorite child! I love all my books the same, and if I have a "favorite," it is the one that I am writing at any given moment. Q: (from Nadia C.) Do you write about dolphins? Do you have children? A: Yes, Nadia, I have written a book called DOLPHINS. They are wonderful animals, and very intelligent. You might like to read this story about experiments that you and your class can do to learn about dolphins. Yes, I do have children. My oldest son, Robert, is a professor of Computer Science at George Mason University, outside of Washington, DC. My youngest son, Michael, lives in Los Angeles and is a television director. And I have a step-daughter, Jules, who is studying Literature at American University in Washington, DC. And finally, Alia Z. shared some wonderful information about STARS in her letter. (Alia) I am going to tell you wonderful and splendid fact. Stars are red balls of gas. There are millions of stars in one galaxy. Galileo saw stars that nobody on earth ever saw before. I am always happy to hear from my readers, and especially pleased when the letters come from overseas. Thanks to all the kids at the George Washington Academy in Casablanca for reading my STARS book and taking the time to write!

Bird's Eye View of the World's Tallest Building

This weekend I spent a lot of time fooling around with Google Earth, marveling at the incredibly crisp and clear satellite photographs of my house, my street, my neighborhood….. It is incredible (though a little spooky!) to see the kind of pictures we can capture from cameras orbiting in the exosphere (the outermost portion of Earth's atmosphere). Then this morning I came across this photograph of the tallest building in the world - the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai. It was taken by the GeoEye-1 satellite from an altitude of 423 miles. Look at how tiny the other buildings down on the ground look…..and then look at how big the Buri Khalifa appears. Can you think of another way to know, by looking at this photograph, that the building is very tall? You can tell by looking at the shadows cast by all of the buildings in the photograph. The big building has a shadow that is at least 5 times longer than the shadow of any other building in this cityscape. That really tells you something about how tall this building is! This skyscraper stands 2,717 feet high, has 160 floors, and is the tallest human-made structure ever built. When the building was opened in January of this year, it returned the location of Earth's tallest free-standing structure to the Middle East, where theGreat Pyramid of Gizaheld the record for almost fourthousand years (up until 1311, when they built theLincoln Cathedralin England). When I wrote my book SKYSCRAPERS in 2005, the tallest building in the world was Taipei Financial Center in Taiwan. It rose 1,667 feet into the air, and had 101 stories.I wrote in that book: Skyscrapers are super-tall buildings that seem to scrape against the sky. When you look down from a high window, people on the streets look like tiny ants. Clouds may drift by below your view. It feels like you're on top of the world. How I would love to be able to look down from the top of this new record-holder. Talk about being in the clouds!

Good News for Gorillas

Christmas came early this year for gorillla conservation experts. A census that counted endangered mountain gorillas in their African habitat shows that their number has grown by more than 25% since 2003. This is big news because just 30 years ago we were down to 250 mountain gorillas, and scientists believed that the species was in danger of extinction. Scientists who did the census this spring found 480 mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) living in 36 groups, plus 14 solitary silverback males. They live in a huge park called the Virunga Massif which spans three countries - the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The governments of these nations are credited with working hard alongside wildlife conservation groups to protect the gorillas by policing poachers and protecting against accidental snaring by local hunters. "The mountain gorilla is theonly one of the nine subspecies of African great apes experiencing a population increase. While we celebrate this collective achievement, we must also increase efforts to safeguard the remaining eight subspecies of great apes," said David Greer, African Great Ape Coordinator at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). You can learn more about mountain gorillas in my book, and visit the International Gorilla Conservation Program website to learn how you can help.

Science Fun to Go—for iPhone, iPad, iTouch and Android phones

I'm so excited to see my new App, Science Fun to Go, become available in the Apple App Store for free download onto your iPhone, iTouch and iPad. My App is also available for all Android phones and tablets. All you have to do on your Android phone or tablet is go to the Android Market and search for either Seymour Simon or Science Fun to Go. Then just click to download the App, and you're all set to enjoy Science Fun to Go.Science Fun to Go is a way you can find up-to-date science news on my blog, view exciting video trailers of my new books as well as video postings (which I'll be doing on a regular basis), online quizzes, laught at jokes and riddles, plus the chance to preview and purchase new ebooks Seymour Simon right on your mobile phone or tablet.The App and the books are geared for all ages, from the youngest (in age and spirit) with titles such as SILLY DINOSAUR RIDDLES, and ANIMAL FACT/ ANIMAL FABLE, to titles for older kids and adults such as two exciting fully illustrated titles about animal migrations, RIDE THE WIND and THEY SWIM THE SEAS. Many more of my books are scheduled in future weeks and will be available exclusively on the App for the first 30 days. All of the books on the App include new "read to me" or "let me read" features. This year I've already spoken to thousands of kids at schools in Great Neck, New York, Dallas and Arlington, Texas and I'll be speaking thousands more kids in San Antonio, Texas all of next week. I hope that everyone in my audience whose family has one these mobile phones or tablets will download my first-ever App, Science Fun to Go.

Science Fun to Go—My new App for iPhone, iPad, iTouch and Android phones

I'm so excited to see my new

Space Monsters?

How does the new NASA announcement impact my old book, SPACE MONSTERS?The first book I ever wrote was titled SPACE MONSTERS. I wrote it when I was in 2nd Grade in elementary school in the Bronx. It was about taking a trip to a strange planet circling some distant star way out in the Milky Way Galaxy. I made up stories about the life that you could see on this make-believe planet and even drew my own pictures of those "space monsters." Have you ever written a book like mine? Lots of kids do. When I grew up, I wrote the book again. This time it was really published. The title is SPACE MONSTERS FROM MOVIES, TV AND BOOKS. Here's a picture of the cover of that book.Would I need to change my book if I wrote it today in stead of way back when I was 8 years old? Not really. I was already imagining all kinds of life, some based on Silicon rather than Carbon. I called them "Rock Monsters." (Silicon is an element present in rocks and minerals, much the way Carbon is an element present in living things that we know.) In science fiction, you can imagine all kinds of interesting things. Sometimes an idea that you imagine in Science Fiction comes true in real Science. How about you trying to imagine a discovery in a science fiction story? Wouldn't if be fun if your discovery came out to be true when you're older?