Seymour Simon's Blog, page 15

We were in Washington, DC all weekend for a family graduation, and one of the places we decided to visit was theUnited States Botanical Garden.What a beautiful place to walk through! The huge glass greenhouses enclose all different habitats - desert, rainforest, medicinal herbs, etc. We found these amazing orchids in the jungle section, where it was one magnificent blooming plant after another. They were so perfect that it was hard to believe they were real!Like most of the museums in our nation’s capitol, admission to the US Botanical Garden is free. Next time you are in Washington, be sure to pay a visit. I promise you’ll love it!

I received a lovely letter from a second grader named Maya this weekend. She asked very good questions, so I thought I would answer it here for everyone to read. Here is what she wrote: My name is Maya. I am in second grade. I am 8 years old. My birthday is May 22nd. I love writing books. That is my favorite thing to do in school. I have 2 brothers. My school is Maugham Elementary School. I am writing to you because you are my favorite Author. It was interesting to learn that you have been writing for more than 40 years. Why did you write for more than 40 years? I love writing books! It was surprising to learn that you have written more than 250 books. Have you written any Dolphin books? I have written an "All About" book about school. I learned that the first book that you wrote was Space Monsters. Was it hard to come up with that idea? It was hard when I wrote my first book. I love that you read "The Sea Around Us" to come up with the idea. Did you have to think a lot? I had to think a lot when I written my first book. Can you please write back to me? Your fan, Maya B.Dear Maya, Thank you so much for writing! It is always a pleasure to talk about my work as an author with a fellow writer. I suppose it does seem as though 40 years is a long time to write. However, writing is my job, so just like other grownups you know, I have done my writing job for most of my adult life. Of course, I am very lucky to have such an enjoyable profession. Even if it were not my job, I think I would write just because I love to do it. Writing books gives me the opportunity to explore new topics and think about how and why things fit together in the natural world. When I am writing, I am always learning. In answer to your second question, I have indeed written a book calledDOLPHINS. They are magnificent creatures of great intelligence. It is also true that the first book I wrote was called SPACE MONSTERS, when I was in second grade. I loved reading science fiction when I was in elementary school, and I was making up my own stories like the ones that I loved to read in the science fiction magazines of that time. I wish I had a copy of that little handwritten book, but unfortunately it was lost many years ago. I wrote it again when I was first being published as an adult. This time it was called SPACE MONSTERS FROM MOVIES, TV and BOOKS, and it described all my favorite fictional aliens.Then last year I wrote a third version, calledSILLY SPACE MONSTER JOKES AND RIDDLES. Are you getting the idea that I really, really like space monsters?! Your last question is probably the most critical one from a fellow writer, as you wonder whether I had to think a lot to write my first book. Of course I did, and in fact, I do a lot of thinking when I write every book. Writing involves a lot of thinking before you start - that helps me get to an outline, which I always do before I start writing. Then I write a first draft and set it aside for a while. When I come back, usually several days or even a week later, I read it and I start to think again. I ask myself questions like: What am I trying to say in this section? Is the point I am trying to make clear? How could I express this idea more clearly and simply? The truth is, both thinking and rewriting are big parts of the writing process. You need to give yourself time for both of these things if you want to do your best writing. Thank you so much for your letter, Maya. My advice to you as new writer is to write every day. Writing takes practice, and just like any other skill (sports, music, etc), the more you do it, the better you get at it. Keep a notebook and scribble down your ideas, thoughts, interesting bits of dialogue that you hear or fascinating sights that you see. Even if you don’t use these bits and pieces right now, you never know when they might be useful in a future piece of writing. Happy early Birthday! Seymour Simon

This just in from Mrs. Gutierrez’s 2nd grade class in Gary, Indiana. First off, we want to thank you for all of your informative books. So far we have read, Big Bugs, Super Storms, and The Moon. We are currently studying insects. Are there any must reads that would help us in our unit? Thank you so much for writing, guys! If you are already readingBIG BUGS, you have started at the right place! One of my books that lots of kids seem to love is called ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES. You will definitely find some insects in that book. I have also written a book about a certain kind of insect - BUTTERFLIES! You might find one or both of those books in your school library. One interesting thing that many people do not know is that spiders are not insects (although we often refer to them as "bugs," they are actually arachnids). You might enjoy doing some research and finding out all the ways that insects and arachnids are different. Please write to me and tell me what you have learned if you do! I have also written often about insects on my blog. If you click on the blog label "Insects," you will get a list of every story that has appeared there and find some very interesting photographs and stories about insects. And finally, you might want to use my SeeMore Explorer Observation Log to write down details about what you see and help you identify insects that you spot in the world around you.Here is the linkwhere you can download a copy. Print it out, head outdoors and start recording information about the insects all around you. Thanks for writing, and enjoy your unit on INSECTS! Seymour Simon

I received this note today from students in Berlin, Wisconsin. They wrote:We are studying about non-fiction author craft. We like your books. We like your photographs, your amazing facts, and interesting words. We were wondering what is your favorite book you have written? Thank you, Mrs. Graham’s First Grade ClassDear Mrs. Graham’s Class:Thank you so much for writing. I’m so pleased that you like my books, and that you think that I use interesting words. You are correct - choosing strong words that are very descriptive, or verbs that are full of action is very important if an author wants to make his or her story exciting.I am afraid I cannot tell you what my favorite book is.That would be like a parent picking his favorite child. Generally, whatever book I am working on at the moment is my "favorite," because I get caught up in how fascinating each topic is. So right now, I am really lovingEINSTEIN ANDERSON: SCIENCE GEEK, because that is the book that I have recently finished writing. You can evendownload a free chapterif you would like to try it out.Did you know that there is a section on my website called FAQ? That stands for "Frequently Asked Questions," and it is full of all sorts of information about my books and my nonfiction writing. I think you might find some very useful details there while you are studying nonfiction author craft.Click hereto read the answers to many questions that kids from around the world write and ask.Thanks again for writing, and enjoy the end of the school year!Seymour Simon

Have you looked recently at all the different shades of green around you? If, like me, you are lucky enough to live in a part of the country where the seasons change, you are enjoying Spring right now. The thing I love best about Spring is that the landscape has come alive and it is splashed with many, many different shades of green. Do you think that you know what color "green" is? When you look hard, especially in the springtime, you’ll see that green comes in many variations. For today’s Writing Wednesday, I’d like you to look at this photograph, tell me how many different shades of green that you see, and describe three of them. Look hard - I bet you will find more than you ever imagined!When you are finished writing, you can click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog post if you would like to share your writing.

Are you ready for an exciting new mystery series? I can’t wait for you to try out my new EINSTEIN ANDERSON books! 12-year-old Adam "Einstein" Anderson loves science, as I do, and thinks it’s fun to know about the natural world and figure out mysterious puzzles. He and his best friend, Paloma Fuentes, have a great time outsmarting adults and using their wits to convince the school tough guy that brains can win out over brawn. Neither Einstein nor his friends are really geniuses - they just use the science they know to figure things out. Since most of my books are nonfiction, lots of kids wonder how I happened to write Einstein Anderson: Science Geek. The story began back when I was a science teacher in a New York City Junior High School. I’m sure that many of you will recognize the scene: It was mid-June. My ninth-graders had finished their state exams and we were really done with the science curriculum for the year. Outside the classroom windows we saw blooming flowers and sunny skies - summer vacation was nearly here and to top it off, my students were moving on to high school next fall. They liked science but saw no reason to study hard at this point - in fact, the kids were pretty much bouncing off the walls… In a desperate effort to keep the class focused on science (actually, on anything!), I began telling them stories involving puzzles or mysteries. At the end of the story I’d ask students to figure out a solution to the problem. The one who figured it out became "Einstein for a Day." These mystery stories became incredibly popular with my classes. Kids were vying to become Einstein. I decided to write stories like these with an "Einstein" character and publish them. In truth, the character of Einstein was based on me when I was a kid, and also a little bit on my sons, Robert and Michael, who loved science, too. In the times when I was in elementary school, pretty much every class had its science geek or nerd and I was the nerdy one who loved to quiz my classmates to see who could name the planets in order going out from the sun (in those days there were nine planets and I still miss Pluto!) or see who would fall for the old standard: "Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of rocks?" I also loved silly puns - in fact I still like to make my wife cringe! Kids loved the Einstein books when they were first published years ago. So, when we started our digital publishing company, StarWalk Kids Media, I thought it was time to update Einstein, give him a smart phone and a laptop and some more diverse and tech-savvy friends, and bring the series to life once again so that you guys can try to become "Einstein for a Day."I know that you guys love games and puzzles and everyone likes to solve mysteries, so every Einstein Anderson story comes with a hands-on science project or experiment that you can do at home or at school. The projects also contain lots of valuable science information and they are just plain fun. But read carefully - sometimes the clues are false! For example, in The Impossible Shrinking Machine the sun shines directly on the same house door both in the early morning and late afternoon. That’s impossible! (Do you know why?) And that’s the clue to the solution.Please try a few experiments in your kitchen or classroom and let me know how it goes. I have a special treat for all my readers. This graphic is called a "QR Code." Click on it or scan it, and you can download a copy of one chapter from the first Einstein Anderson book. Please try it out, and then click on comments below to tell me what you think!Have fun with Einstein Anderson, Science Geek!

We had a lot of fun yesterday as Mrs. Alaniz’s Class from Texas and Mrs. Ellefson’s class from Wisconsin tried to figure out a "Mystery Poem." We asked students to read a poem and guess what kind of animal the poet was writing about. By clicking on "Comments" down at the bottom of the blog, both classes told us that they liked the poem, and Mrs. Alaniz’s class figured it out! The poet’s "alarm clock that’s covered with furr" is a cat!Thanks for your contributions toWriting Wednesday, everybody. That was fun!CAT KISSES By Bobbi KatzSandpaper kissesOn a cheek or a chin -That is the wayFor a day to begin!Sandpaper kisses -A cuddle, a purrI have an alarm clockThat’s covered with fur.

It’s obviously the small things that count when you are living on the International Space Station! The current ISS captain, Canada’s Commander Chris Hadfield, has been so much fun to have aboard. He loves to take photographs and he uses Twitter all the time. This morning he postedthis photo of a floating onion andtweeted:@Cmdr_Hadfield: Space Onion - came up on the Progress resupply spaceship. We sliced it up and had it with everything - nice flavor!If you love the magnificence of seeing Earth photographed from space (like I do), you should follow Chris Hadfield’sTwitter feed.He posts multiple photographs and writes about what he sees every day. His observations are a treasure.

It is easy to see that there is a big Seymour Simon school visit week coming up - we have been getting so many comments from new readers on the Seymour Science blog. Students in Lower Gwynedd Elementary School in Ambler, Pennsylvania - this contest is for you! Two lucky winners are going to receive personally autographed copies of Seymour Simon’s new book, EXTREME OCEANS. Here is what you have to do to enter: 1. Write a comment on this blog post and tell Seymour three fascinating facts about sharks.2. Tell us your name (first name only), your grade, and your teacher’s name. This will let us contact you if you are the winner.3. Be sure to post your entry by midnight, Friday, May 17, because the contest ends then. Two winners will be chosen randomly from all the correct entries. Older students may enter individually, and we will pick one winner. Students in grades K-2 may enter as a class and work with their teacher to enter the contest; there will be one classroom winner.Students who are not in the Students who do not attendLower Gwynedd Elementarymay also enter this contest. The rules are the same as above, but for #2 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 a third prize winner from the non-Pennsylvania entries.What if you don’t know any cool facts about sharks? You can start right here on the Seymour Science blog. Look at all the entries under the label "Sharks." We guarantee you that you will find some fascinating information in these stories! It is also ok if you use other sources for your information, such as books in your library, or a reliable Internet source like an encyclopedia,National Geographic Kids, or theDiscovery Channel’s Shark Weekwebsite. So, get to work and send us your entries today! Seymour will see you soon, and then you can all talk about sharks and Extreme Oceans together!

Today we’d like you to read this poem by Bobbi Katz and tell us what she is writing about. What are sandpaper kisses? How does the person in the poem wake up every morning? Is it a pleasant wake up, or an annoying one? Click on the yellow "Comments" button below and tell us what you think Ms. Katz had in mind when she wrote this poem, and how you figured it out. Sandpaper kissesOn a cheek or a chin - That is the wayFor a day to begin!Sandpaper kisses -A cuddle, a purrI have an alarm clockThat’s covered with fur.