Stars

by Seymour Simon

Discusses the stars, their composition, and characteristics, with actual photographs.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Childrens, Astronomy, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Seymour Simon, whom the NY Times called "the dean of [children's science:] writers," is the author of more than 250 highly acclaimed science books (many of which have been named Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children by the National Science Teachers Association).

Seymour Simon uses his website, SeymourSimon.com, to provide free downloads of a wealth of materials for educators, homeschoolers and parents to use with his books, including 4-page Teacher Guides for all 26 of his Collins/Smithsonian photo essay books. The site provides multiple resources for kids writing book reports or wanting to explore the online Science Dictionary, and also features the Seymour Science blog highlighting current science news. Educators and families are encouraged to sign up to receive the monthly newsletter from SeymourSimon.com to stay abreast of the latest materials that Seymour Simon is introducing to enrich the reading experience.

He taught science and creative writing in elementary and secondary schools and was chair of the science department at a junior high school in the New York City public school system before leaving to become a full-time writer. "I haven't really given up teaching," he says, "and I suppose I never will, not as long as I keep writing and talking to kids around the country and the world."

Seymour Simon is also a creator and the author of a series of 3D books and a series of Glow-in-the-Dark Books for Scholastic Book Clubs, a series of leveled SEEMORE READERS for Chronicle Books, and the EINSTEIN ANDERSON, SCIENCE DETECTIVE series of fiction books. His books encourage children to enjoy the world around them through learning and discovery, and by making science fun. He has introduced tens of millions of children to a staggering array of subjects; one prominent science education specialist described Simon's books as "extraordinary examples of expository prose."

Seymour Simon has been honored with many awards for his work, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Lifetime Achievement Award for his lasting contribution to children's science literature; the New York State Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature; the Hope S. Dean Memorial Award from the Boston Public Library for his contribution to children's science literature; The Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for Non-fiction; the Jeremiah Ludington Award for his outstanding contribution to children's nonfiction; the Empire State Award for excellence in literature for young people; and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Forum on Children's Science Books.

In a recent interview Simon was asked if he ever thinks of retiring. "I seem to be working faster and harder than ever. I absolutely don't feel any urge to sit back and look at what I've done. The only things that I'm thinking about are things I'd like to do in the future. I'm planning and doing and continuing to write. It's what I love to do. I remember a story about an anthropologist going to talk to a tribe and he asked them what was their word for "work." Their response was they have no word for work. Everybody does the things that they do in their life. I love that response. I don't differentiate between work and play. Everything I do is something that I enjoy doing - the writing, the research and everything else."

Seymour Simon writes and photographs nature from his hilltop home in Columbia County in upstate New York, where he lives with his wife Liz Nealon.

You can follow Seymour on Facebook and on Twitter, as well as on his website, which offers free, downloadable Teacher Guides to his books for educators, parents and homeschoolers, as well as the popular Seymour Science Daily Blo

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents the information simply and in a straightforward manner. It does present many facts that have been observed by astronomers, while asserting the evolutionary time-line of billions of years (which has not been observed).
However, coming from a creationist perspective, I also found the book filled with evolutionary assumptions and unproven assertions presented as fact.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book about stars that explains the science in a way that children can understand. I loved how the book explains about light years and attempts to give children the concept of the vastness of space. The photographs are wonderful and the information provided is informative without being boring or overwhelming.

We've read several books by Seymour Simon and really enjoy reading them together. We like learning about different scientific topics and even if our girls are familiar with the topic, we always learn something new. We will certainly look for more of his books at our local library.

[Kaitlyn Elmerick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Informational
Grade level: Lower/Intermediate/Upper Elementary
I love the real-life pictures in this book! They are amazing, and really help with the facts that are being given. It is important for children to learn about stars, and everything in our sky. I would love to have this book in my future classroom.

[Vayda Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book because it explained stars as simply as possible and the images were beautiful.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and very technical - children always gasp at the pictures!

Q2021 book

[Aliyah Inge-hanif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stars by Seymour Simon (Smithsonian) is a none fiction book for ages six to ten years old. This book talks about space including stars and galaxies. It also talks about changes in stars and clusters.


This book is perfect for the age group it is targeting. The pages are large and glossy making the topic of science less intimidating. The font and wording is perfect as well. While introducing new vocabulary the sentence structure is still simplified and clear. The photography in the book is absolutely gorgeous. Each page has capturing picture to go along with what kind of star being discussed. With a different star on every page this book can be used for a long period of time when discussing stars and science. The introduction about stars in the beginning of the book opens up for activities with telescope, and the big bang theory for the older children. This book also talks about how people use to name the stars. This can expand the child’s vocabulary even more and help them identify stars. I am giving this book a full five star rating, because I really do think it is superb for introducing stars and more science subject to school aged children and younger.

[Bethany Sutherland]

Stars is a book all about stars. The different galaxies, novas, supernovas, and stars. We learn about the different galaxies in the world and that star movement we call light-years to make it simplier since they move ten miles per second. The novas and supernovas that happened long ago and the types on constellations.

I do like stars, but I do not care about astronomy as much so this book bored me and it was longer than I wanted it to be. I would recommend this book to people who like astronomy though.

I would use this book in my classroom for when we talk about astronomy and science so the students can have an illustration and definitions for what it is all about. This book would also help them on a report on stars and astronomy.

[Restokes92]

This book is nothing more than fascinating. I'm a person who loves space and seeing stars, real stars in detail with great photos and explanations is amazing. I would use this in my class by fusing ELA with my science to help my students get to know both subjects. This book would work great with visual learners because of the fantastic pictures which is a trend I see in these science books.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a typical example of Seymour Simon perfection. His clear style of writing, the amount of information he shares, and the depth at which he addresses topics makes him my favorite nonfiction author for third grade researchers!

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stars is a good children's resource about astronomical information

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has lots of information and real pictures. I would recommend it for higher level readers.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating. (Note to those with a Christian worldview: there are some "millions of years" sections to edit/skip while reading.)

[Sophia :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Effective for its target audience. Fun little refresh for me. Pretty pictures.