Dogs

by Seymour Simon

It's easy to see why dogs are the most popular pets in the world. For a run in the park or a cozy snuggle on the couch, a dog is the perfect companion! But dogs are much more than just loyal pets. For thousands of years, these amazing animals have helped people herd sheep, hunt for food, and keep warm. Award-winning science writer Seymour Simon has teamed up with the Smithsonian Institution to bring you an updated edition of his classic full-color photographic introduction to man's best friend.

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

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

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

[Faith Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about, you guessed it, dogs. Seymour Simon tells about the different types of dogs, and what they do. He tells us about puppies, what they eat when they get sight and smell. He also tells s the main different breeds of dogs. He goes over working dogs, and pet dogs.

This book is okay. It's in the valley of too much information for younger kids, but it's to easy for older kids to read. These pictures just made me laugh. Not because they're funny or bad, but because several of the dogs just look confused. I don't think I could keep my classes attention long enough for me to read this. The information seems scattered, and the pages aren't laid out creatively.

I don't think I would use this in my classroom. I feel like there may be better ways to teach kids about dogs. This definitely feels more of an "I checked this out of the school library because the librarian said I had to check out a nonfiction book too" kind of book. (I would know because I checked out several of these as a kid.) This is just one of those books that sits in libraries, and only gets picked out because of cute pictures of dogs.

[Alyssa Lundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: informational non fiction
Age group: 3rd -5th
In a Uplifting Way,, Simon uses clean images and interesting facts to teach kids about different breeds of dogs. Some kids might have never seen them in person and now they can read about them in an easy and playful way. I like the book due to that because I love dogs.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to review this children’s book because it was really well done! It was thorough in teaching about different dog breeds, functions, and some historical context. My kids were fully engaged even with the longer length. My oldest picked it out at the school library, so I'm going to see if she can find other subjects by this author given how much we enjoyed this one. 5 stars

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 2009

This is a nonfiction book about dogs, what they eat, they’re lifestyles, and other useful tips. I would have this available in my class for students to read. A lot of kids like dogs.

[Tam Newell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nonfiction picture book about the history of dogs, jobs of different breeds, and general lifecycle.

[Keri Sourdot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with 8 year old he loved it! I highly recommend this book to anyone who has children interested in learning more about dogs.

[Courtney Lloyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dogs, by Seymour Simon, is a book full of interesting facts that tells all about dogs and everything you need to know about them. This book discuss puppies, dogs senses, the many different jobs that dogs are used for, and the many different abilities that dogs can do. This book does contain many great facts but I do think that this is an easy read for younger children. There are some larger words that the book does not define so I do think that upper elementary children would comprehend it better. Teachers could use this book to help children learn more about dogs. Teachers could use this book for a class to do a book report over. SLPs and teachers could expand the larger words to help children learn about more words and throughout this book, an SLP could read this and then ask many questions to keep the client engaged and focused through the session.

[Katy-Margaret Doss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review for Dogs by Seymour Simon. This book is all about the different types/categories of dogs, what type of activities/jobs some dogs can do, how a dog's senses our different than ours, facts about puppies and how to take care of them. I really liked this book. It was very educational and had a lot of information about dogs. This would be great for older and younger children. Older children would be able to appreciate the information more but younger children would love all the pictures of cute dogs. This would be a great book to introduce to a child that wants a dog or is about to get a new dog. I would use this book to work on using terms like big, bigger, biggest or small, smaller, smallest, reading comprehension, and answering "wh" questions.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about dogs. It describes a bit about the long history that domesticated dogs and humans have shared and discusses the origin and reason behind many different breeds.

It also explains the importance of taking good care of your dog. The big, colorful photographs are wonderful and the narrative is detailed, but not overwhelming.

We enjoyed reading this book together and we will certainly look for more books by Seymour Simon at our local library.

August 2015 update: I didn't remember reading this one before, and we reread it on 21 August 2015. It's a fun, fast read, although not as detailed as I expected it to be.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers simply written text that is not too easy or watered down, but just enough for early elementary students to take in. Beautiful full-page pictures accompany each page of text, making for a fine balance. The information is accurate and well presented, although there is not a table of contents or index.

[Nicole Jacob]

This is a cute book with a lot of pictures of adorable dogs. I myself am a dog person so i really enjoyed reading all the different facts about dogs and getting to know the different types of dogs. This would be a great book to keep in your classroom library i recommend this book.

[Kirst · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't my favorite. It had a lot of text crammed onto the page which could have been divided and presented better for young readers. The pictures don't present the text remarkably well, but there are still good information and pictures.

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEAUTIFUL pictures! Simon shares history, facts, and interesting tidbits about all breeds of dogs.

[Karen Probus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great photos, Dogs easy to relate topic for students

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My granddaughter loves this book, so I've read it at least twenty times!

[Emma Houck]

This book talks about how dogs came to be. Scientist believed that dogs developed from wolves that have learned to live close to people. Different breeds emerged and today there are more than 400 breeds. The book talks about their 5 senses, how fast they are, their strong teeth and their intelligence.

This book would be good to use in a preschool to first grade classroom. I could incorporate this book into a lesson by talking about dogs and pets. I could ask the students if they have any. Or if they have a dog or has a friend who has a dog. After reading, I could provide a coloring sheet for the students and have them color them and hang up around the classroom.