Horses [Hardcover]

Seymour Simon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2006 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

What animal can . . .

• run so fast, its feet don't always touch the ground,
• weigh more than 2,000 pounds,
• sense people's emotions bytheir smell,
• . . . and wear shoes?
• Why, a horse, of course!

Horses are some of the most fascinating -- and important -- creatures on Earth. In fact, our world would not be the way it is today if not for horses. Horses have carried medieval knights into battle, transported settlers to the American West, and hauled fire engines and buses. They even turned the wheels that provided power for factories! But one of their greatest, most enduring gifts to us is companionship and trust.

So come along with Seymour Simon, whom the New York Times calls "the dean of the [children's science book] field," and learn more about these amazing animals -- straight from the horse's mouth!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3–Simon provides the basic facts, which include the importance of horses to humans throughout history, their evolution, physical traits, interactions among themselves, and the various breeds. The information is clear and accurate. The striking color photos will capture readers attention. However, its unfortunate that they lack captions, particularly when showing different breeds. Children will pore over the photos and garner enough information from the text to make this book a popular introductory choice.–Carol Schene, Taunton Public Schools, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4. Simon, whose award-winning books have covered the spectrum from vehicles to weather to the human body, turns his attention to an animal whose history has been linked to that of human beings for "tens of thousands of years." As is usual in Simon's recent science books, photographs, carefully keyed to the text, draw readers in. Though the photos of horses in motion are less effective in showing how the animal moves than a diagram might have been, some of the other pictures are nothing short of spectacular, especially one of a pair of jumpers, photographed from below as they clear a fence at twilight. Comprehensive? No. Rather, Simon has pulled together a variety of information to give children a concise but memorable, even dignified picture of the magnificent beast and how its relationship to humankind has evolved and changed. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060289449
• ISBN-13: 978-0060289447
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 11.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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). His free, educational children's app, SCIENCE FUN TO GO, debuted in the Top 10 of all free children's apps in the Amazon App store, and features in app purchase of original Seymour Simon eBooks, as well as a multitude of free content.

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. You can follow his daily nature walks and see his photographs from the field on Twitter (@seymoursimon) or on his Facebook group page. He also regularly hosts Q&As and sponsors book giveaways on GoodReads.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful pictures and great info on HORSES, July 15, 2007

By 

Sonya M. Smith "cnssmith" (Hampton, Va.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Horses (Hardcover)

My daughter got this book as a paperback from a school book fair. She took it to school to share as a science project and it was lost. I found it here online and for a bonus it was in hardback. She loves reading this book. It gives so many details about a horses life, body and lifestyle. She calls it her science book. Thank you for carrying such a good teaching tool.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horses, February 18, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Horses (Hardcover)

If you are interested in owning a horse, you should read this book. This book teaches you how to take care of a horse and tells you other fun facts. If you get a horse you have to give it lots of free time. For example, put the horse in a wide field so it can run often and get its energy out. Horses can get very antsy. They also need a friend of their kind. Having more than one horse is always good because they can entertain each other. Be sure to feed your horse at least three times a day. They liek to eat hay, carrots, apples, grass, corn, and occasionally hats! Sometimes horses will eat anything. I remember a time when my friend's dad's hat was eaten by a horse when we were feeding it carrots!

One of the things I liked most about this book were the pictures. They showed all different types of horses. One really cute picture was of one horse kissing another horse. A bizarre picture was one of a horse smiling with disgusting teeth!

I really enjoyed reading this book because it gave me lots of information about horses. I would recommend it to someone who wants a horse, has a horse, or just wantes to learn more about horses. So read this book and you will learn so much more!

by AB