Label: EBooks

January 23, 2013

We are pleased to report that four - count them, 4! - of Seymour Simon’s eBooks received the QED seal of approval at the recent Digital Book World Conference.

Is it true that some cats have no fur? Can you really tell a dog by his noseprints? And what kind of animals are also known as hobs, jills and kits?  Find out the answers to all this and more!

 

If you liked SILLY ZOO ANIMAL JOKES & RIDDLES, you’re sure to enjoy this book about one of Seymour’s favorite topics - SPACE MONSTERS!

Younger readers are sure to enjoy SEYMOUR SIMON’s ANIMAL ABCs, full of fascinating information about baby animals from A to Z.

And finally, the first book in Seymour Simon’s new series, A SHIPMATE’S GUIDE TO OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. "Like the passengers on a ship, all the humans, plants and animals of the world are traveling together, shipmates on this huge spaceship we call Earth." 

The 2013 QED Seals were awarded at the recent Digital Book World Conference. The QED process consists of a 13-point checklist to ensure a high quality user experience. DBW considers the QED Seal, which stands for Quality, Excellence, Design, the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval^TM" for ebooks and apps. To ensure that an ebook title submitted for a QED will render well on the device a reader chooses, it is reviewed on three devices: a small, mobile-sized screen, an eInk reader-sized screen, and a tablet-sized screen. The QED is judged on the criteria established on the recommendation of the Publishing Innovation Awards advisory council, who are respected leaders in the digital production and design space.  

Congratulations, Seymour, on all this great recognition of your digital original books. All these books are available to purchase individually for Kindle Fire or Nook Color/Nook Tablet, but they are also part of the StarWalk Kids collection of digital books for kids K-8. If you haven’t yet checked out what we are doing, please come have a look today! www.starwalkkids.com 

November 14, 2012

Good morning, and welcome to Writing Wednesday! Today we’re going to look at a portion of a book called A PINKY IS A BABY MOUSE, written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Diane deGroat. 

In this book, the author is talking about the names for the babies of all different animal species, and she asks a question: What is a baby bat called?

Your Assignment: Read the excerpt below and do some research. Find out what a baby bat is called, and then work with other students or friends to write a few more sentences about what you think is interesting, beautiful, or NOT beautiful about a baby bat. When you are finished, click on the yellow "Comments" link below to post your writing, or share it with your class.

Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Writing Standard #7: Participate in shared research and writing projects. A PINKY IS A BABY MOUSE is one of the exclusive, recorded eBooks available in the StarWalk Kids digital collection. Click here for more information about signing up for a free, 60-day trial for your school.

October 31, 2012

Good morning, and welcome to Writing Wednesday. Today, we’re going to share an excerpt from a lovely book by Caroline Arnold and Richard Hewett, called WILD GOAT. Once you have read this and enjoyed the photograph of these adorable kids, you can write about it and post your writing for others to read! 

Your assignment: Tell us what you learned from the words in this selection. What did the pictures teach you? How did the words and pictures work together to help you understand the world of these baby goats?

When you have finished, click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog to post your writing.

WILD GOAT is one of the exclusive, recorded eBooks available in the StarWalk Kids digital collection. Click here for more information about signing up for a free, 60-day trial for your school.

October 15, 2012

Did you notice that we had a very quiet week on the Seymour Science blog last week? That is because we were busy launching StarWalk Kids Media, the new eBook collection for Schools, Libraries and Families! I am the founder and one of the partners, along with my wife, Liz Nealon, who is the former creative director of Sesame Street.

I started publishing my own eBooks several years ago, and this past year we decided that it was time to work with other authors, as well. I started calling my friends who are children’s book authors and illustrators - people like David Adler, Johanna Hurwitz, Kathryn Lasky, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, and many others. Like me, all these authors have wonderful books that are still perfectly relevant and interesting to children, and which have been allowed to go out of print for one reason or another. We began to scan, adapt, update, record narration and publish their books as eBooks. Pretty soon we had 150 titles - 10 of which are digital originals like A SHIPMATE’s GUIDE (at right).

And so begins StarWalk Kids Media. Some of the advantages of the StarWalk Kids collection are:

1.    It’s affordable. I was a teacher for many years, and I know how important this is. In a typical school of 400 students, the entire collection costs less than $1.50 per student for the first year.

2.    It’s multi-user. A whole class can read the same book at the same time without check-in/check-out delays or waiting lists.

3.    It works on virtually any device. We’ve built gorgeous eReader software, called the StarWalk Reader^TM. Kids access this reader through their browser - so they can read on any device that has Internet access. We’re still working on special software for the iPad - that should be available within a month.

4. We offer Advanced Search Features for Educators and Parents. You can search for books by author, title, keyword, subject, Lexile® level, Alphabetic reading level and Common Core State Standard (CCSS) links.  This provides an easy and accurate method for selecting the right ebook for each reader.

5.  Any time, anywhere access. Students can log in and read anywhere that they have Internet access - at home, at school, or otherwise.

The StarWalk Reader^TM and streaming StarWalk Kids eBook library are available as of this week (60-day Free Trials for Schools & Libraries; $5.99/month for family subscriptions). Please visit our website - www.StarWalkKids.com - so that you can see what we have been doing, and try it out for yourself!

September 26, 2012

Welcome to an Out of This World Writing Wednesday!

When Seymour Simon was in second grade, he wrote his first book, called SPACE MONSTERS. He loved to imagine that there were aliens living on Mars, and he wrote and illustrated a science fiction story about it.

When he grew up, Seymour wrote and published a real book called SPACE MONSTERS, about Martians and other aliens as they appeared in books, movies and television series. That was long ago - the book is long out of print, and all the photographs inside were in black and white.

So today, for Writing Wednesday, we’d like you to look at both panels (below) of this joke from SILLY SPACE MONSTER JOKES AND RIDDLES, and think about all the things that make it funny. How are the words that Seymour Simon has chosen unexpected, surprising or funny? And tell us about the details in Dennis Kendrick’s illustrations that make you laugh.

When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" button below to post your writing.

Happy Silly Writing Wednesday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Language Standard #5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings; Reading/Literature Standard #1: Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events. SILLY SPACE MONSTER JOKES AND RIDDLES is one of the digital exclusive, recorded eBooks available in the StarWalk Kids digital collection. Click here for more information about signing up for a free, 60-day trial for your school.

April 30, 2012

Today is El Día Del Niño (Children’s Day), celebrated in many Latino cultures around the world. April 30^th is also widely celebrated here in the U.S. as El Día de los Libros - Children’s Book Day.

I am so pleased to be able to tell you that in honor of El Día Del Niño, today I have published my first Spanish-language eBook for Kindle Fire. It is called LOS PLANETAS ALREDEDOR DEL SOL, and it is available for English language readers, too, as PLANETS AROUND THE SUN.

This book is one of my SeeMore Readers series, and it has been newly updated, since what we know about our solar system is constantly changing.

And, we have created great looking trading cards for both books, which you can download and print out. Click here to get yours!

¡Feliz Lectura! Happy Reading!

January 27, 2012

As our regular readers know, there is a new SCIENCE JOKE or RIDDLE every Friday on the homepage of SeymourSimon.com. This week’s joke: How do you catch a gorilla? Click here for the answer!

And since it’s New Joke Friday, we thought we’d let you in on some exciting news. Seymour Simon and his very funny illustration partner, Dennis Kendrick, worked together on an eBook called SILLY DINOSAUR RIDDLES. And it just went on sale - it costs only $0.99 from now through Sunday! You can buy this eBook bestseller for the Nook Color, Nook Tablet or the "Nook Kids for iPad" app.

Have a funny weekend, everybody! 

December 11, 2011

If your family has either an iPad, Nook Color or Nook Tablet, you can have a free Seymour Simon eBook called FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS!

Last year, Barnes and Noble wanted to create a bonus for people who bought their new Nook Color. They asked Seymour to write an eBook that they could give away free as a gift to all their customers. That was Seymour’s first eBook, and the title is perfect - the facts are really fun! For example, did you know that dogs’ feet sweat? Or that a pot-bellied pig can open the refrigerator?!

Here is a sample page from the book, which also has "Read to Me" narration.

FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS is free not only for the Nook Color and Nook Tablet, but you will also receive it when you download the "Nook Kids for iPad" app. So, if you have any of these devices, be sure to check out this 48-page book. It is a gift to you from Barnes and Noble and Seymour Simon!

December 2, 2011

As our regular readers know, there is a new SCIENCE JOKE or RIDDLE every Friday on the homepage of SeymourSimon.com. This week’s joke: Why is a dog’s tail like the inside of a tree? Click here to see the rest of the joke.

And since it’s New Joke Friday, we thought we’d let you in on some exciting news. Seymour Simon and his very funny illustration partner, Dennis Kendrick, have just published a funny, new eBook called SILLY ZOO ANIMAL JOKES AND RIDDLES! It is available right now for the Nook Color, Nook Tablet or the "Nook Kids for iPad" app, and it will be in the iBookstore before the holidays.

November 21, 2011

Did you ever wonder why kittens are always climbing things? Or digging up your mother’s favorite flowerpot? Or why they love to purr and snuggle?

You can find the answers to all these questions, along with more adorable kitten photos than you can possibly stand, in Seymour Simon’s new eBook, WHY DO KITTENS DO THAT? It was published this week in the iBookstore (for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch), and it also works on your Nook Color.

If you try it, be sure to let us know what you think!

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