January 21, 2012

One of our readers, 11-year-old Cassidy, uploaded this photo of her puppy this week. Cassidy wrote: "My puppy GiGi was an amazing puppy and was soo lovable!" Knowing how many dog lovers there are among my readers, I suspect others of you are going to agree! 

January 13, 2012

Look who is on the front of Barnes & Noble’s "Ages 6-8" eBook homepage! If you have been thinking about trying a Seymour Simon eBook for your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or Nook Color, now could be the time. Seymour is running an end of season blowout sale, with some of his very popular eBooks priced under $2.

Parents and Educators who have followed Seymour Simon’s work over the years know that he has always been very forward looking when it comes to technology. Back in the 1980s, when personal computers were first becoming available, he wrote a whole series of books for kids about using computers. The titles seem very quaint now (remember THE BASIC BOOK, or MEET THE COMPUTER?!), but he has always embraced technology and the wonderful opportunities it presents for kids to learn and explore.

Today, Seymour Simon has embraced eBooks as a new technology for encouraging young readers. Some of these books are new titles that he has created specifically for eReaders (like WHY DO KITTENS DO THAT? and SILLY ZOO ANIMAL JOKES & RIDDLES). But, he also sees this as an opportunity to bring some of his treasured, out-of-print older books like ANIMAL FACT / ANIMAL FABLE, and the PLANET books back to life. 

If you have access to a digital reader (or you know a kid who does), this is the time to give these eBooks a try. After all, lifelong readers find their way in through all sorts of different channels.

January 9, 2012

The latest development in locating people trapped in the rubble after disasters like earthquakes is called PAWS - rescue dogs equipped with a camera, microphone and speaker.

PAWS stands for Portable, All-terrain, Wireless System. An inventor in England has developed a harness that holds a very lightweight camera, mounted on the dog’s head. The dogs are trained to play a game - "Go find your toy!" When they race through the rubble and come to a stop in front of a human, the rescuers are able to see on video places that they would otherwise be unable to reach.

Want to see what it looks like? 

This is a border collie’s view of his owner through the Paws head camera. 

December 17, 2011

I received a letter this week from a school librarian friend, Donna Smalley at Eagle Spring Elementary in Humble Texas. I still have very fond memories of all the kids I met in my visit there last year!

"Every year for the last 3 years, the library at Eagle Springs Elementary in Humble ISD hosts a food/toy drive for the animals at the Houston SPCA.  The students and their families are so generous, and this year they donated over 400 pounds of food and treats for the animals! 

In addition to these donations, Girl Scout Troop 9390 decided to make this effort their Community Service Project. They collected toys and food, but they did something else very special.  Last Saturday, they baked over 100 homemade, fresh dog biscuit treats for the dogs.  A spokesperson at the SPCA said the biscuits would be used to make friends with the new animals that come into the shelter during the holidays."

What a great story. Instead of just thinking about what they want to receive, these scouts thought about giving - and they remembered the animals. Way to go, girls!

This story also gives me a chance to remind everyone about the many animals that are given as gifts and then abandoned after the holidays. Don’t give an animal to someone unless you are certain that the family you are giving it to is willing and able to take care of it and be its family for life. An animal is not a toy, it is a living being that deserves to be cared for and loved. 

For those of you receiving iPads or Nook Color/Tablets this season, Seymour Simon has many quality eBooks available for purchase, some discounted as much as 50% for the holidays. If you are adding reading material to a tablet, please consider making Seymour Simon’s exceptional nonfiction for children part of your collection. Happy holidays to all!

December 1, 2011

A student named Nequira wrote last night with a good question that I often hear when I speak in schools. 

Nequira asked: How do you come up with what you want to write, what pictures you are going to use, and what title you’re going to put on the cover?

          I have loved nature since I was a young child. Although I grew up in the Bronx – a very crowded part of New York City – the natural world was all around me. There is weather in the city, just as there is in the country. You can see the sun, moon and stars from a rooftop in the city. And I explored a vacant lot on my street, which wasn’t exactly a park, but still had birds, earthworms, small plants, and trees. When I grew up I became a science teacher, so it was natural that when I started to write books, I was writing about science and nature topics that interest me.

Then, the hard part starts! Whenever I want to write about a subject, I need to study. I start by looking at research that other people have done. What experiments have they run? What animals have they observed? By studying all the work that others have already done, I learn about the subjects that I write about in my books. 

Readers often ask about how I get the photographs for my books. Sometimes I travel to places myself and take the photographs. I have photographed glaciers in Alaska, volcanoes in Hawaii and wildfires in California. Other times, I arrange to use other people’s photographs. Often these are specialists - like a scientist who has been living in Antarctica and observing penguin behaviors. Someone like that has photographs that I could never get in a single, short trip.

In the case of my newest book, BUTTERFLIES**, we searched long and hard for the perfect photograph for the cover. We finally found this one from photographer Kha Dang, who also raises butterflies for the Butterfly Magic Exhibit at the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

When it is time to decide on the title, I talk with my editor, who works at the company that publishes and sells the book. The editor gives me notes, suggestions and corrections on my writing (much as your teacher would), and also makes the final decision about the title.

Sometimes it is easy to pick a title (like BUTTERFLIES), but sometimes there is a lot more discussion before we finally settle on the right title. 

For example, my eBook FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS was originally going to be called DOGS’ FEET SWEAT. Which do you think was the better choice?

Also, I wanted you to know that FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS is a free book that I created for Barnes & Noble when they launched the Nook Color last year. If you have a Nook Color or an iPad (with the "Nook Kids for iPad" app loaded) in your classroom or library, this book will automatically download to the device. 

October 21, 2011

A Labrador retriever suffering from smoke inhalation was saved this week by firefighters who carried him out of a burning house and gave him "mouth-to-snout" resuscitation.

When firefighters arrived at the fire in Wasau, Wisconsin, the owners told them that their dog was still inside. The rescuers rushed into the house and carried out the unconscious dog, named Koda. Firefighter Jamie Giese, who owns two dogs himself, said he told the other firefighters: "We’ve got to work this dog. (We) laid him down in the front yard, and we started assisting breathing.’‘

When Koda eventually regained consciousness, 

firefighters placed a human oxygen mask over his snout and rushed him to an animal emergency center for medical treatment.

The rescue was successful….Koda was returned safe and sound to his owners on Wednesday morning.

 Photos: Dan Young  /  Wausau Daily Herald

July 5, 2011

Are you a Seymour Simon Facebook fan? Seymour just posted a new poll on a topic that is near and dear to the hearts of our readers:

Who do you like to talk to the most, your cat or your dog?

If you're 13 years old or more, head to Seymour's Facebook Author Page to register your vote!

Photo: From the Seymour Simon eBook WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT?

June 6, 2011

One of the most popular posts on the Seymour Science blog this past year was called: DOGS vs CATS: An Experiment. We reported on a study that showed that unlike dogs, who slurp their water and make a mess when they drink, cats drink daintily, using their curled tongue to pull liquid into their mouths in a neat stream.

Two scientists at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology decided to study dog drinking habits and see if this is actually true. They found that the way dogs get liquids into their mouths is very similar to what a cat does. And they have an x-ray to prove it!

Click here to see an x-ray of a dog drinking.

So dogs and cats are very much alike, at least when it comes to drinking! 

To read more about puppies and why they do what they do, download my new eBook, WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT? You can buy an iPad version in the iTunes store, and it is now also available for the Nook Color. Happy reading!

June 2, 2011

Seymour Simon’s new eBook, WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT?, is now available as an app for the iPad.

This "read to me" book is full of fascinating, real information about puppies, and you will also see some of the cutest puppy photographs we could find!

It is on sale for $3.99 for this first week in the iTunes app store (through Saturday, June 4). Try it and let us know what you think!

May 25, 2011

It was amazing to watch people emerging, unhurt, from their storm cellars as we were watching television news last night of the latest powerful Oklahoma tornadoes.

That got me thinking. What happens to all the animals when a tornado strikes?

Dogs also go to work alongside the rescuers when disaster strikes. In this photo, a live-find dog named ChicoDog searches for survivors in the wreckage of a public housing complex in Joplin, Missouri. His partner is Kathleen Kelsey, a canine rescue specialist with the Missouri Task Force One search-and-rescue team.

Kittens Photo: Dave Martin  /  AP

ChicoDog Photo: Mark Schiefelbein / AP

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