Label: New Books
June 7, 2010
My Favorite Animal
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
Posted by: Seymour Simon
March 22, 2010
Researching a new book on butterflies
Photo Credit: Liz Nealon
The next book that I’m writing for my Smithsonian/Collins series is a book on butterflies. This is a photo of a monarch taken when we were visiting the monarch butterfly trees in Pacific Grove, California. The trees were filled with monarch butterflies; they looked like autumn leaves rustling in the wind. It was magical-realism, something like a scene out of Marquez’s A HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE (the book is for adults and may not be appropriate for children). Sad to say, but the population of Monarchs is way down probably due to a number of reasons, not the least is the fact that milkweeds (whose leaves the monarch caterpillars eat) are being destroyed as a weed alongside some state highways around the country.
Maybe it’s time for butterfly lovers to begin planting a few milkweed plants in butterfly gardens?
Here’s a link to the story (similar to one sent to me by my friend, the cat lady, Carrie Smelser): Female monarch butterflies on 30-year decline in eastern North America
Posted by: Seymour Simon
July 30, 2009
New books
I was excited to receive a package in the mail the other day from my publisher HarperCollins. It contained three new books of mine: DOGS, CATS, and GLOBAL WARMING. The first two are reissues and updates of my books in their new uniform editions from Smithsonian/Collins. GLOBAL WARMING is not really a book yet, but printed sheets which are not yet bound. (Publishers call them f&g’s, which stands for "folded and gathered sheets.") I’ll post photos of the covers soon.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
July 21, 2009
Thanks for your Comments and Questions!
I have had a number of comments recently from readers who want to know what my next book is about. My next new book to be published is GLOBAL WARMING (Collins/Smithsonian). The official publication date is February 23, 2010. Bet you didn’t know how long it takes a book to be published even after you’ve researched and written the manuscript!
Even before this book is published, two books of mine are being republished in updated editions. They are DOGS and CATS (Collins/Smithsonian), September 29th, 2009. Catch the new cover photograph of the Portuguese Water Dog!
(Have you ever seen President Obama’s new dog? He’s a Portuguese Water Dog and his name is Bo. Here he is running around the White House with the President.)
Posted by: Seymour Simon
February 16, 2009
