June 7, 2010

I surprised myself with the answer to a question I was asked at a recent conference. The question was: What is your favorite animal? My initial instinct was to say that it’s impossible to say which is my favorite animal…..it’s like having favorites among your own children.

Then I realized, to my surprise, that I do have a current favorite animal. It’s the BUTTERFLY! And why are butterflies my favorite? Because I’m writing a new book on butterflies. The manuscript is finished, I’m now researching the accompanying photos, and the book will come out early in 2011 as part of my Collins/Smithsonian series. My editors really pushed me to write about butterflies, and I must confess that at first I resisted. But, as I started to learn about them I became fascinated by these gorgeous creatures that children can observe in the wild, right in their own neighborhoods.

So I suppose the answer to the question regarding "what is my favorite animal" depends on what I am writing at the time. The truth is, the more I learn about a particular species, the more interested I become. That’s the fun of being a science author and also a science reader- constant exploration!

                                                                                   —-Seymour

May 28, 2010

I came upon a lovely scene while driving on this pre-Memorial Day afternoon.

May 19, 2010

As you may have read previously in this space, we are creating free, downloadable TEACHER GUIDES to go with all 26 of Seymour’s Collins/Smithsonian books.

One of the nice features at the start of each Guide is a brief piece of first person writing from Seymour entitled "Why I Wrote This Book." It’s designed for teachers or parents to read aloud with kids before starting to talk about the book together.

Today we are working on the Guide to accompany CATS, and we thought you might like to preview what Seymour wrote about the genesis of this book.

 When I wrote the book on cats, my family had two feral cats that had been born in our back yard and that we took into our house when they were a few weeks old. They became tame and we named them Mittens and Sir Isaac Newton (aka Newty Frewty). You can guess the reason for naming a cat Mittens but let me tell you about Newty.  Sir Isaac Newton was one of the greatest scientists of all time and he had a mind that was “forever voyaging through strange seas of thought,” according to the poet Wordsworth. My cat Newty was always wandering into strange places in my house so that is how he got tagged with the name of the great scientist, Newton.  

 We have completed a prototype Teacher Guide - for EARTHQUAKES - and are currently testing it in classrooms.  If you would like to give us your feedback you can download a copy by clicking on this link. We would love to hear from you!

April 26, 2010

John James Audubon, bird watcher, artist, and one of America’s original conservationists, was born this day in 1785. His Birds of America, a collection of 435 life-size prints, set the standard for painters of wildlife in this country. The National Audubon Society, whose mission is “to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity,” is named after him (although he played no role in its founding or operation).  Although he was a hunter for most of his life, in his later years Audubon wrote about his concerns at the destruction of birds and their habitats.

You can see all 431 existing watercolors of the original 435 Audubon painted for “Birds of America” at the New York Historical Society, in New York City. Many of the copper plates used in the printmaking are across the street in the American Museum of Natural History (one of Seymour’s favorite places). It is also possible to see 18 original Audubon paintings in Key West, Florida at a small museum called the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens.

Audubon once wrote: "I never for a day gave up listening to the songs of our birds, or watching their peculiar habits, or delineating them in the best way I could."

John James Audobon is buried in what is now the Trinity Cemetery at 155th Street and Broadway in New York City. Audubon himself was the last private owner of that parcel of land, and had built an estate overlooking the Hudson River there. The property was eventually bought by the city, and his grave is marked by a large Celtic cross with likenesses of his work on either side. 

 Image: Iceland Falcon Falco   rusticolus from plate 366 BIRDS OF AMERICA, John James Audubon,  1838.

April 21, 2010

Today’s Earth Day post comes from my friend and fellow science writer, Jordan Brown. Hope you enjoy it! - Seymour

    On Earth Day, as we celebrate our planet’s biodiversity, and marvel at all the remarkable ways that species are interconnected, why do many people ignore the tiniest creatures?

Be honest: When’s the last time you thanked a microbe? I’m guessing “never.” You’re not alone! Most folks are unaware of the HUGE impact that teeny-tiny creatures, such as bacteria, have on our planet.

 Brown, Jordan. MICRO MANIA. Morganville, NJ:  Imagine Publishing, 2009. Page 13 Photo: iStockphoto

Earth Day is the perfect time to learn more about at all the little life forms that share our home. While writing my new kids science book MICRO MANIA, I learned