December 31, 2010
MR. SIMON GOES TO WASHINGTON!
This past Saturday, April 17, Seymour Simon was invited to read from his GLOBAL WARMING book as part of the The Climate Rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The stage was placed directly in between the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument, so it was quite an honor to be on the program!
Here are some excerpts from what he told the crowd about why he wrote GLOBAL WARMING:
"There is a Native American proverb that powers and informs the reasons and ideals of our approach to the problems of climate change and global warming.
Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents;
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors;
we borrow it from our Children.
I was a teacher in the New York City School System for nearly 25 years. I’ve written over 250 books for children about animals and the wonders of Earth and Space. Each year, I speak to thousands and thousands of children in schools in all parts of the country, in the South to the North, from East to West. I tell them about butterflies and polar bears, I talk to them about lightning and tornadoes; I take them on a journey from Earth to the ends of the universe using the words and images in my books. I’ve written books about nearly every science and nature subject you can imagine.
The earth is so big and the subject is so vast, that you might think that kids get overwhelmed. ‘What does all this mean to me?’ you might think that they respond. Well, you might be surprised at what they really do say. Here’s what many of them ask me: ‘Where do I fit in? What’s my place in the universe? What is it all about? And what about me?’ ”
And then he read excerpts from his GLOBAL WARMING book, with images projected on the big screen. He finished and left the crowd with the following thought:
"Knowledge empowers people with our most powerful tool: The ability to think and decide. There is no power for change greater than a child discovering what he or she cares about."
By the way, does anyone know the name of the red brick building in the background of this photograph? It’s the Smithsonian Institution - how appropriate a setting for Seymour’s Earth Day speech!
Posted by: Liz Nealon
