Poisonous Snakes

by Seymour Simon, William R. Downey (Illustrator)

Describes the behavior and characteristics of different kinds of poisonous snakes, including cobras, rattlesnakes, and water moccasins.

80 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1981

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

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've read several nonfiction books by Seymour Simon. His books are very informative and usually have a lot of interesting color photographs. I like that the books are educational, but not overwhelming with details or boring.

This book offers a fairly comprehensive look at poisonous snakes and describes the types of poisonous snakes that can be found around the world. It's a fairly long book, so we took our time reading it. The information is quite interesting, but I wouldn't recommend reading it all at one time. It would be a good reference book for an elementary school-age child writing a report. The black and white illustrations are nicely detailed, but I would prefer to see photographs of the snakes.

We enjoyed reading this book together and we will certainly look for more books by Seymour Simon at our local library.

[Chelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are beautifully done and it is informative other than the fact that (most) snakes aren’t poisonous. They’re venomous. It might seem like nitpicking but it’s a huge difference.

[Adolfo Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poisonous Snakes by Seymour Simon is a book about different poisonous snakes. This book taught me about many snakes.For example, the King Cobra, Rattle snakes, Vipers are dangerous when they attack. I learned that poisonous snakes don't really attack human but they give them a warning or they just play dead. I gave this book a four out of five stars because the author forgot to add some other kinds of poisonous snakes.I recommend this book to people who are trying to learn about poisonous snakes.

[Tyrone Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the values and dangers of poisonous snakes. This is a non-fiction book best suited for 5th graders and above who have an interest in snakes. The book tells about the animals habitats, characteristics and where and how to approach/avoid these deadly animals. This would also be good for older students who are working on life science units.