Our Solar System
Written by Seymour
1. Biography
Simon, Seymour. 2007. Our Solar System. New York
2. Plot Summary
Our Solar System is a non-fiction book about the sun, the planets, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. The book begins with a detailed description of the creation of the sun and its attributes. Then the author describes each planet in detail with interesting facts about the history of the planets and there discovery. In addition he includes information about the planets distance around the sun, the planets seasons, and what each planet is made of. He also talks about asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Each page has big beautiful pictures that show the different sides of the planets and our solar system. This book is very informative and would be a great book to read in order to find out more about the solar system.
3. Critical Analysis
Seymour Simon uses beautiful pictures and clear factual information to take the reader on a journey through our solar system. Each set of pages contains bright beautiful pictures of planets and outer space on one side and on the other information that pertains to the picture in a large easy to read font. The pictures in this book come straight from NASA and Simon often gives background information on the pictures by describing the NASA spacecrafts that took the pictures. There are also many pictures taken by telescopes and astronauts that went into space.
In Our Solar System, Simon gives detailed information in this order about the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune , Pluto, Asteroids, Comets, and Meteoroids. Simon’s writing consists of factual information about each planet such as its discovery, how it was named, the size of the planet, what it’s made of, the seasons on the planet, and much more. The last page of the book contains a glossary of scientific terms and an index. There are also websites listed where the reader can find out more information about our solar system. The inside cover of the book and the inside back cover of the book contain a large chart from NASA that lists all the planets and information about them such as distance from the sun, revolution in Earth days, and how many satellites they have. This chart is a useful tool for finding fast facts and for comparing the planets.
Simon uses the copyright page to credit his sources and often writes where he found the information about the planets throughout the book. Seymour Simon is the author of more than 200 books for children and is the recipient of the Science Books & Films Key Award for Excellence in Science Books. He is well known in the world of non-fiction books for writing interesting and exciting scientific books for children.
I would recommend this book to librarians and teachers for its stunning pictures and interesting facts. I really enjoyed reading about the discoveries of the different planets and the format of this book makes it very easy to read. However, Our Solar System might be difficult for younger students to read because it is a 63 page book and contains scientific terms, and big words. The reading level of this book is seventh grade and up. However, fourth grade students and up would probably enjoy listening to this book read aloud and looking at the pictures and facts in its pages.
4. Review Excerpts
Awards for Seymour
Science Books & Film Key Award for Excellence in Science Books
Empire State Award for excellence in literature for young people
Educational Paperback Aossication Jeremiah Ludington Award
School Library Journal- Grade 3-6-- Having worked his way through individual volumes on the Sun and its galactic companions, Simon now offers a brief overview of the solar system itself. The full-color photographs and illustrations are spectacular. Each of the planets gets several pages of coverage, with comets, meteors, and asteroids also receiving attention. This book serves best as an introduction to the single topic books since the information presented here is quite brief. The endpapers have a nicely organized chart of useful statistics such as diameter, rotation period, revolution period, etc., for each planet. Not sufficient in itself for most report needs, this title's eye-catching illustrations and understandable text should encourage young readers to look for further information. --Elaine Fort Weischedel, Turner Free Library, Randolph, MA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
5. Connections
Put the students into groups and have each group select a planet to study. Each group should decorate a poster board with images of their planet and find interesting facts about their planet to share with the class. The students can use the facts from Our Solar System as well as other non-fiction books.
First Space Encyclopedia By DK Publishing ISBN: 9780756633660
Me and My Place in Space by Joan Sweeny ISBN: 9780517885901
Planets, Moons and Stars by Laura Evert ISBN: 9781559718424
Solar System: A Visual Exploration of All the Planets, Moons and Other Heavenly
Bodies that Orbit Our Sun By Marcus Chown ISBN: 9781579128852
Stars & Planets by Carole Stott ISBN: 9780753412008
Seymour Simon also wrote the Destination series of books that focus on one planet in space. The following books are some of the books in the series.
Destination: Mars by Seymour
Destination: Jupiter by Seymour
Destination: Saturn by Seymour
Tell the students to pretend that they are an astronaut that has a space ship fast enough and powerful enough to visit any planet in the solar system. While they are in space they must keep a journal to document their adventures. Have each student write at least four entries about their trip to space in their journal. The length of the journal entries is up to the teacher or librarian depending on the age of the students. Younger students can drawl pictures instead. The book The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System as wells as The Worlds Around Us: A Space Voyage are a good books to read along with Our Solar System in order to help the students imagine that they are on an adventure in space.
The Magic School
The Worlds Around Us: A Space Voyage by Ellen Jackson ISBN: 9780761334057
Seymour Simon has written more than 250 books for children. Read other books by Seymour Simon in order to teach and discuss different topics. Talk about his writing style and teach the students about the glossary and index that he includes in the back of his books. Below are a few of his non-fiction books.
Animals Nobody Loves by Seymour
The Brain: Our Nervous System by Seymour
Dogs by Seymour
Guts: Our Digestive System by Seymour
Lightning by Seymour
Oceans by Seymour
Weather by Seymour
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