Label: Einstein Anderson

September 26, 2013

Thank you to everyone from Cider Mill Elementary School who entered the Einstein Anderson Contest. We asked students to read a passage from Seymour Simon’s book LIGHTNING NEVER LIES and tell us about the characters of Einstein and Paloma. Specifically, we asked you to tell us what their characters are like (using examples from the text) and then tell us how you are the same as or different than these characters.

We are very impressed by the quality of the writing that was submitted. Those of you who entered obviously gave some real thought to this assignment. 

As promised, we have selected a random winner from each grade, and each author will receive an autographed copy of Seymour Simon’s LIGHTNING NEVER LIES. 

Are you ready? Here are the winners of Seymour Simon’s EINSTEIN ANDERSON contest!

Fifth grade winner:  Michael C. from Mrs. Stallfort’s class. Michael wrote:

Einstein is a really nice boy who has light brown hair and wears glasses.  He really likes computers and bird watching.  He does not have a lot of friends.  Einstein is a deep thinker and really smart.  He has one close friend, a girl, who likes a lot of the same things that he likes. Her name is Paloma.

Paloma has long dark hair which she keeps in a pony tail.  Both Einstein and Paloma both like wearing blue jeans. They both like bird watching and computers.  Paloma does not have any other friends.  Einstein and Paloma both like sports but would rather spend quiet time bird watching.

Einstein and I share a lot in common.  We are both athletic, but quiet at the same time.  We like to use computers and have a close friend that shares a lot of the same interests.  I don’t like bird watching but I do have special interests just like Einstein.  We both worry about our friend and think about a lot of things that many people may not understand.  That special friend in our lives makes us feel really good and makes us feel special.  

Fourth grade winner:  Zach, 9 years old, from Mrs. Layne’s class. Zach wrote:

Einstein likes thinking, soccer, science, birding and research.  He wears glasses, does not wear fancy clothes, uses technology and is a good friend. Einstein Anderson got his nickname “Einstein” because he likes to think often.  He probably doesn’t like his real name since he always uses Einstein!

Paloma likes soccer, birding and research.  She has long black hair, uses technology, is a good friend and always dresses in high top sneakers and jeans and keeps her hair in a ponytail.  She does not sound like a girl who likes dresses!  

Einstein is interested is science and animals.   I like to read about animals too, especially reptiles.  Recently, I saved a baby snapping turtle and put it in the pond near my house.  I found the turtle on the road in front of my house and brought him to the pond so he was safe.  This seems like something Einstein would have wanted to do too.  

Third grade winner:  Lukas from Mr. DiCrescenzo’s Class, Nod Hill House. Here is the extraordinarily good...

September 20, 2013

Heads up for lovers of Einstein Anderson: Science Geek! We have really enjoyed reading your writing this week, and hearing about all the ways that you describe yourselves as similar to and also different from the characters of Einstein and Fiona.

Have any of you been reading Seymour’s new science mystery chapter books and thinking about trying out the projects and experiments that come at the end of each story?  

We’ve made that a little easier for you by putting free copies of all the experiments on SeymourSimon.com. They are all in the section called Kids/Free Stuff (mouse over the pull-down menu called "Kids" at the top of each page, and then click on "Free Stuff"). Here’s what the page looks like.

You can download whatever experiment you want to try, print it out and you’re ready to go!

If you haven’t tried an Einstein Anderson story yet, what are you waiting for? Click this link to read a sample chapter.

And don’t forget, if your school or library has the StarWalk Kids eBook collection, you already have access to FOUR of these great books! Just log in and search for “Einstein Anderson.

 

September 10, 2013

It is time for a new contest! Seymour Simon is visiting the Cider Mill School in Wilton, Connecticut later this month, and this Writing Wednesday contest is for all the Cider Mill students to enter. Three lucky winners are going to receive personally autographed copies of Seymour Simon’s new book LIGHTNING NEVER LIES, from the Einstein Anderson: Science Geek series of science mysteries.

Here is how you enter. First, read this excerpt from LIGHTNING NEVER LIES. 

Once you have read this, here is what you do to enter:

2.    Then write at least one paragraph telling us about an interest or characteristic that you share with one of these characters, either Einstein or Paloma.

3.    To enter the contest, click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog entry and share both your list and your writing.

4.    When you enter, be sure to also tell us your name (first name only), your grade, your age and your teacher’s name, so that we can find you if your entry is chosen. Allow 24 hours for your comment to show up online, because all comments by people under 13 years old are reviewed by a moderator and approved before they appear on the website. Be patient if your writing doesn’t appear right away!

5.    Be sure to post your entry by midnight on Wednesday, September 25th. The contest ends then.

6.    One winner from each grade will be chosen randomly from all the complete entries.

7.    Students who do not attend Cider Mill School may also enter this contest. The rules are the same as above, but for #4, 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 an extra prize winner from the non-Cider Mill entries. 

All winners will receive copies of LIGHTNING NEVER LIES, personally autographed by Seymour Simon. So, get to work and send us your entries today!

August 29, 2013

We are so pleased and proud to report that the first two books in Seymour Simon’s new series, EINSTEIN ANDERSON: SCIENCE GEEK, have won GOLD (!!!) in the Mom’s Choice Awards!

May 6, 2013

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!

January 31, 2011

I had an interesting question from John in Kentucky this morning. He wrote to ask: "Why is his name Einstein?"

If you are talking about the great Nobel Prize winning scientist Albert Einstein, his last name is Einstein because his parents were named Hermann and Pauline Einstein. But I have a feeling that is not what John is asking.

If you are talking about my fictional science detective Einstein Anderson, “Einstein" is just his nickname. The character’s real name is Adam Anderson, but his friends call him Einstein because he is so good at science.

By the way, did you know that you can download a free chapter from one of my Einstein Anderson books? Go to:

http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/kids/free_stuff/free_story/

Click the green button that says "Download," and you can try out an Einstein Anderson: Science Detective story!