Baby Animals

by Seymour Simon

See More Readers Level 1

From a one-inch baby rabbit to a 100-pound baby rhinoceros, baby animals are shown through spectacular photos, while readers learn fascinating facts about these animals' young in the wild. Includes a collectible deck of cards. Photos. Consumable.

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

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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 3 out of 5]

Obviously conceptualised for the youngest independent readers (and of course also for read-alouds), while Seymour Simon’s text for his 2002 Baby Animals is certainly pretty simplistic and rather lacking in detail, he still does with his fourteen featured baby animal examples show sufficient information for his intended audience, for children from about the age of five to seven to get a decent enough general introduction (what the baby animals being presented look like, how they are fed and cared for by their parents, how they are protected from potential predators). And of course, the accompanying photographs of the baby animals are indeed supremely cute and adorable, representing a nice visual mirror of Seymour Simon’s text, but well, as an older adult reader, I actually find them, I do have to consider the photographs encountered in Baby Animals rather more engaging and interesting than the author’s printed words, with them being quite suitable for the intended age group quite notwithstanding.

And furthermore, I most definitely and indeed also do find it more than a bit annoying as well as rather textually frustrating that from the fourteen examples shown by Seymour Simon in his Baby Animals, six of them are generally considered domesticated and not wild animals (horses, cows, chickens, pigs, dogs, and cats) and that there are no examples of either insect or fish baby animals (and only three examples of birds and one of a reptile). For yes, while for our eyes, baby animals that are mammalian probably and naturally both feel and also look cuter and more personally relatable than the offspring of insects, fishes, reptiles etc. often tend to, I still believe that Baby Animals would be considerably more balanced if there had not been ten examples of mammal animal babies, if from the fourteen featured selections, there was more of a variety with regard to the different animal classes being portrayed and introduced by Seymour Simon.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adorable photos of baby animals highlight this book for beginning readers. We love reading Seymour Simon's books and we are always looking for more at our local library. This book was a bit too simple for our girls, but we still loved looking at the cute babies. The narrative is short and is good for beginning readers, but I like that it offers some interesting facts about each animal, too. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect early transitional reader. Each 2 page spread has a photo of a baby animal with corresponding text. This is part of a series called See More Readers for beginning and transitional readers.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children's literature nonfiction reader level 1
K-2

I really like these Seymour Simon nonfiction readers. I'm glad to see there is an easy level with topics that younger children would enjoy reading--animals. I definitely would like this series in my classroom.

[Josephina · Rating 5 out of 5]

educational and educational is fun for me!!!

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely pictures of baby animals. It tells about how babies behave after birth. Some babies get right up, and start to move around. A baby kangaroo is born, and then lives in it's mother's pouch for an other eight months. Puppies and kittens can't see or hear when thy are born. Some babies need a lot of care after they are born, and some are on their own after birth. A good animal book for young children, or old grandparents.

[ZebraPrintRocks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small Stripes loved this book, it was a quick read for her. She also loved looking at the photos of the animals. Do you know what a baby rabbit is called? I realized I didn't until she read me that part. Brings new meaning to, "You learn something new, everyday" Right? Even when you least expect it.

We will look forward to checking out many more of Simon's books in the future.