Volcanoes

by Seymour Simon

Join award-winning science writer Seymour Simon in this picture book introduction to volcanoes!  Volcanoes don’t always look like mountains; they aren’t always full of fire. Some are holes in the ground; some form under the sea. And despite their reputation for destruction, volcanoes produce new mountains, new islands, and new soil. Visit some of the world’s most remarkable volcanoes in this masterful introduction from Seymour Simon. It’s an extraordinary—and unforgettable—trip. With clear, simple text and stunning full-color photographs, readers will learn all about these amazing natural structures in this informative picture book! Perfect for young scientists’ school reports, this book supports the Common Core State Standards. Check out these other Seymour Simon books about the Natural

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Geology

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1988

About the author

Seymour Simon, whom the NY Times called "the dean of [children's science:] writers," is the author of more than 250 highly acclaimed science books (many of which have been named Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children by the National Science Teachers Association).

Seymour Simon uses his website, SeymourSimon.com, to provide free downloads of a wealth of materials for educators, homeschoolers and parents to use with his books, including 4-page Teacher Guides for all 26 of his Collins/Smithsonian photo essay books. The site provides multiple resources for kids writing book reports or wanting to explore the online Science Dictionary, and also features the Seymour Science blog highlighting current science news. Educators and families are encouraged to sign up to receive the monthly newsletter from SeymourSimon.com to stay abreast of the latest materials that Seymour Simon is introducing to enrich the reading experience.

He taught science and creative writing in elementary and secondary schools and was chair of the science department at a junior high school in the New York City public school system before leaving to become a full-time writer. "I haven't really given up teaching," he says, "and I suppose I never will, not as long as I keep writing and talking to kids around the country and the world."

Seymour Simon is also a creator and the author of a series of 3D books and a series of Glow-in-the-Dark Books for Scholastic Book Clubs, a series of leveled SEEMORE READERS for Chronicle Books, and the EINSTEIN ANDERSON, SCIENCE DETECTIVE series of fiction books. His books encourage children to enjoy the world around them through learning and discovery, and by making science fun. He has introduced tens of millions of children to a staggering array of subjects; one prominent science education specialist described Simon's books as "extraordinary examples of expository prose."

Seymour Simon has been honored with many awards for his work, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Lifetime Achievement Award for his lasting contribution to children's science literature; the New York State Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature; the Hope S. Dean Memorial Award from the Boston Public Library for his contribution to children's science literature; The Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for Non-fiction; the Jeremiah Ludington Award for his outstanding contribution to children's nonfiction; the Empire State Award for excellence in literature for young people; and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Forum on Children's Science Books.

In a recent interview Simon was asked if he ever thinks of retiring. "I seem to be working faster and harder than ever. I absolutely don't feel any urge to sit back and look at what I've done. The only things that I'm thinking about are things I'd like to do in the future. I'm planning and doing and continuing to write. It's what I love to do. I remember a story about an anthropologist going to talk to a tribe and he asked them what was their word for "work." Their response was they have no word for work. Everybody does the things that they do in their life. I love that response. I don't differentiate between work and play. Everything I do is something that I enjoy doing - the writing, the research and everything else."

Seymour Simon writes and photographs nature from his hilltop home in Columbia County in upstate New York, where he lives with his wife Liz Nealon.

You can follow Seymour on Facebook and on Twitter, as well as on his website, which offers free, downloadable Teacher Guides to his books for educators, parents and homeschoolers, as well as the popular Seymour Science Daily Blo

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

REVIEW OF THE 1995 EDITION

So yes, when I started reading Seymour Simon’s 1995 Volcanoes (and there also seems to be an updated edition which I have not read and will not likely ever read since it does not seem to be available on Open Library), for the first fifteen or so pages, I was actually textually quite impressed since the author, since Seymour Simon definitely explains what volcanoes are engagingly and with necessary enlightenment (and his information about Mount Saint Helens and the volcanoes of Hawaii is factually and scientifically sound as well as being penned in a way so as to provide enough details for the intended audience, for elementary school children from about the ages of seven to ten without becoming overwhelming and without Seymour Simon making use of difficult and involved geologic jargon).

But there is NO WAY I would ever consider granting a more than one star ranking for a non fiction illustrated tome on volcanoes that fails to even mention two of the most infamous volcanoes of both the historic past and the present, namely Italy’s Mount Vesuvius and Indonesia’s Krakatoa (since both the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the 1884 eruption of Krakatoa were not only majorly destructive, devastating and of historic significance but also that both of these volcanoes are in fact considered by scientists as being two of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes and capable of affecting millions if or rather when they once again blow off ash, steam and lava). And since for me and in my opinion a book on volcanoes which ignores Mount Vesuvius and Krakatoa is really not truly legitimate, I just cannot and will not consider Volcanoes as anything but supremely lacking and utterly lacking (and I also have to wonder why Seymour Simon would write about volcanoes and completely ignore in particular Mount Vesuvius and how the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were absolutely destroyed by the 79 AD eruption).

And with regard to my one star rating for Volcanoes I also do not feel any guilt or contrition whatsoever, since aside from my supreme annoyance at Seymour Simon’s ignoring Mount Vesuvius, Krakatoa and focussing much too heavily on American, on USA volcanoes (and in a manner that could even be described as potentially a trifle nationalistic), the lack of ANY bibliographic material (no endnotes, not footnotes, no acknowledgement of sources, no suggestions for further reading), this also makes me absolutely academically livid and emotionally furious, as why Seymour Simon does not include a bibliography totally makes no sense at all.

[Shirley L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the book has a lot of facts but maybe it should tell you more about the volcanoes.

[Bre Crose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volcanoes written by Seymour Simon is a nonfiction informative book. This book would be great for fourth grade and up. The text is smaller and there tends to be more words on each page than you would typically see a third grade student and below read. The book starts off talking about the history of volcanoes and how modern scientist have conducted research to understand why volcanoes erupt. "Volcanoes" would also be perfect for students who are researching about volcanoes as it gives in depth details, pictures, maps, and vocabulary words. I would recommend this book in any classroom library or school library as it is informative using accurate information. I loved how it gave the history of volcanoes.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book for a kid who is really interested in Volcanoes, but not so great for the kid that is not. It is a good starting resource for a science report for maybe 3rd grade.

[Anjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good information a child would enjoy this book.

[Isabella Chupashko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like how it gave me a more basic understanding of volcanos

[Nasia]

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[Amjad Badenjki]

Volcanoes has been around for ages and still have some mysterious behind them. A volcano erupts because of density and pressure. When the magma plates combine it causes pressure towards the volcano causing lava to flow out of the volcano and sometimes jump into great heights. Volcanoes can cause great damage. In Hawaii, there is an active volcano, for hundreds of years it has been threatening a village in Hawaii. To stop or slow down a volcano you can use either a barrier or sea water. You can use a barrier to make the lava stuck in place causing it to overflow and for sea water, you can try to turn it into stone using a huge hose that is only permittable to use by firemen.

Even though I understood how volcanoes erupted and how they worked, I still have some questions left. One of them is, is there any way to completely destroy a volcano? I have always thought if you exploded a volcano then all the lava remaining inside it would just spill everywhere causing major damage. Also if you do explode it then when the magma plates collapse and release pressure then the lava would just spill out onto the land causing major damage. Volcanoes have made an impact on many of people's lives. Lava has enough heat to burn everything in its way. That means that if a house or famous monument got in the way, it would burn it all up. My opinion of why the author wrote this book is to explain how volcanoes and lava work. The part that was most interesting was learning about how the volcano released lava.

My favourite part of the book was learning about the most famous volcanoes that has destroyed many homes because I didn't believe that something that is about 3 inches tall can destroy many buildings. My least favourite part was reading how many people have died in lava. I don't like reading about people's death. I would definitely read another book from the same author because she really taught me about volcanoes.

[Meg Stolte · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Volcanoes” is an excellent informative text for students to learn about types of volcanoes around the world. It provides an overview of types of volcanoes, and then describes different volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens, underwater volcanoes in Iceland, and Mauna Loa in Hawaii. It also includes diagrams and illustrations of the tectonic plates and the crust layers of the earth. This is an example of informational text, as it stimulates interest in young readers who otherwise might be reluctant to pick up informational books; it also shares factual information that’s up to date (the book was published in 2006) and includes many helpful diagrams and illustrations to explain tougher concepts.

This book might be a good resource for a 5th grade science unit looking into natural disasters, or a social studies unit examining different geographical features of the earth. With regard to literacy instruction, I might use this text to help students learn how to take notes and organize information, such as writing notes in a bubble map, or learning how to use Venn diagrams to compare different geographical features (e.g., volcanoes and earthquakes: what do they have in common? How are they different?).

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mount St. Helens is where my knowledge of vocanoes really began. I feel like I know a decent amount, but I learned some new things in this book. The photographs never cease to amaze me, and you should not expect anything less when you pick up this book. Beautiful! Also, Every child needs a strong working ability to read nonfiction text. This has a high interest and is rich with in vocabulary and content.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volcanoes are fierce, but they are essential to the growth of our planet. Dig into this book and discover where the magma comes from and what the lava makes when it cools on land. The land volcanoes are rivaled only by their under-the-sea counterparts. This book even names and locates some famous volcanoes on earth.
I love learning about volcanoes when I read this book and seeing the explosive pictures in it.

[Marissa Pezzullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a little history on volcanoes and also talks about the different major volcanoes that we know like Mount St. Helens. It talks about what happens after a volcano and what you can expect to see. It tells you what types of volcanoes there are as well. I liked this book because of the realistic pictures.

[Jenna Arntz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book about volcanoes. I was so interested in this informational story. I like that the author discusses the layers of the earth and what happens when volcanoes erupt. I also like that the photographs are of actual volcanoes. It is so interesting to see lava and the surface that it forms once it is cooled.

[Deanna Sutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm getting repetitious: I love this Smithsonian series by Seymour Simon! The pictures are just great! This book on volcanoes focuses more on specific volcanoes than it does on the scientific process of a volcano.

[McKinzie Elton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will ask students if they know what a volcano is. They could interview their parents or grandparents about volcanoes, do they remember when Mt. Saint Helens blew? We will then begin to read the story, stopping to answer as a class the discussion questions provided.

[Cws]

J551.2Sim

[Mas5thgrade2012 · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book taught me everything i needed to know about volcanoes and where they usually erupt.
whoa i never knew that volcanos could be so so so dangerous

[Deborah Harris]

AR Quiz No. 47350 EN Nonfiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: MG - BL: 5.1 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP, VP

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice nonfiction account of everything a middle grade student might want to learn about volcanoes. I think my 4th grade students would learn from it and enjoy it. Lovely photos.

[Rachel]

This is a great resource that is full of interesting history and facts!

[Jenny]

This was a very interesting book and I felt I learned a lot and not just about volcanoes. This would be a great informational text to include in a classroom library.