The Moon by Seymour Simon

The Moon Reviews

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  Manybooks

  Seymour Simon's The Moon is if I look at the author's presented text with an uncritical eye an adequately enlightening but standard general introduction to the earth's moon, although the book's 2003 publication date (and The Moon was actually and in fact first published even earlier, in 1984) does unfortunately make Simon's categorical claim that there is absolutely NO water present on the moon's surface factually false, seeing that frozen water, that indeed quite large amounts of ice have recently been detected and discovered as existing both on the moon's surface and especially in many lunar caves and caverns. But while The Moon would thus probably work well enough to basically introduce children (older children from about the ages of seven to ten years of age) to our earth's one and only satellite, frankly, I really have not been all that academically and intellectually impressed with and by The Moon, as aside from the now out of date information and details regarding the presence of water on the moon (or rather that the author claims there absolutely is none in any form whatsoever), even more problematic is that Seymour Simon also refrains from explaining and showing how the moon's gravity affects the earth (how for example, the oceans' tides are caused by lunar gravity pulling on the earth), not to mention that while the Appollo Missions to the moon of course were and remain of the utmost importance (and essential), lunar exploration and study did not simply stop in 1972, did not cease with Apollo 17 (and while NASA astronauts might have been the only individuals to have so far set foot on the moon, scientists and space explorers from countries other than the USA have also studied and analysed the moon and just because they did not actually land and set foot on the moon, that does not mean their findings etc. are secondary or to be ignored as seems to have rather been the case here). Therefore, and even though there is defintely much of interest included and presented in The Moon (and with especially the accompanying photographs being aesthetically brilliant and occasionally even spectacularly awesome), textually, thematically and content-wise, I really cannot consider more than a grudging two stars at best (as there are just too many annoying informational gaps and shortcomings, and, yes, that Seymour Simon has also not bothered to include ANY secondary sources, any bibliographical information, period, that is not only massively frustrating, it also seriously limits the teaching, learning and indeed especially the supplemental research potential and value of The Moon).
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  Laura L. Van Dam

  To be honest, this book is for children but i bought it for myself (i am clearly an adult- ok not so clear sometimes).
  The info is very brief and i bought it for the pictures, which are amazing. It was in the sale bin at a local bookstore for $1, and i couldn´t say no!
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  Hope

  With simple sentence structure and short paragraphs, The Moon is filled with information about the moon's environment. It includes information about Apollo 11, 15, and 17. This book would be appropriate as a read aloud for K-5, but for independent reading, 2-4.
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  Jenny

  Pretty much perfect for our study of the moon in 3rd grade. Not too dense but filled with most of the concepts I am supposed to teach.
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  Shauntelle James

  Scientist first went to the moon in 1971. Our moon is made mostly of rock and differs from earth in that it contains no water. Because of this, the moon has changed quiet little throughout its history. Scientist were able it find that the moon is about the same age as earth. Although scientist have been studying the moon for years, there is still much to know.
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  Melissa Namba

  Not a bedtime story for the average kid, but maybe for one obsessed with space. I would highly recommend this book for a young kid doing a science report on the moon. It is very dense with beautiful pictures. Pair this with a DK book on the moon or space and your kid is set.
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  Lynn

  A great children’s book on the moon. It contains a lot a great information for kids and teachers!
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  Joseph

  Liked this book a bunch. Really general moon info but fun to read with elementary students, which is what I did.
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  Katie

  Again, this book was mostly a regurgitation of facts onto pages with cool moon images. It did have good information but there was nothing exciting about reading it. I feel like there could be something more exciting and fun to look at that was just as informational!
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  Tori Fullmer

  Informational. Seymour Simon artfully teaches children about the history of the moon. The pictures are captivating.
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  Relyn

  Our summer school theme is NASA and space this year. So, I am teaching fiction and non-fiction about the moon, stars, and aliens. We have lots and lots of cool plans. For example, we are designing our own life-sized aliens, having spaceship races (decorated Frisbee), writing poems about what the moon is really made of: green cheese, milk, white chocolate, a pearl... Their ideas are vast and fun. As a part of summer school, we are reading tons and tons of moon, star, and alien related books. I'll review some of them here.
  
  I love Seymour Simon. His books are always full of good information. Even though they are usually written at to high a level for second graders, they get a lot out of the pictures and captions.
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  Audrey

  This book gives general information about the Moon.
  
  The book is a good introduction to the Moon. It includes information regarding the moon landings, including the last visit to the Moon and what the astronauts left there. However, it does not mention the U.S. flag that was placed on the Moon. There is information given regarding a theory of how the Moon formed. There are large photographs on each page, but the reader is left wanting to see more images of the Moon’s surface. This could be a good thing because it could promote further Moon research and reading, as long as the reader is not bored by the informational aspect of the book. The writing is fairly dry.
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  Emily

  Who knew that I would learn so much information about the moon from such a tiny book. This book was chalk full of information and amazing photographs of the moon. I liked this book because it was simple and to the point yet interesting and informative all at the same time. There is only about a paragraph or two on each page and it is simple enough for a medium reader to be able to read and comprehend.
  
  I would use this book during space units. I could also use this book when talking about weather and geography because it compares the weather and geography of the moon with the earth's.
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  The Reading Countess

  Who doesn't like anything by this author? Narrative nonfiction at its finest. I can envision some of my know-it-all science gurus thinking this book won't teach them anything they haven't already memorized by heart. Not so! Simon shares some interesting information about the creation of the moon and some pretty amazing photos to go along with it.
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  Rachael

  Grade: 2nd-3rd Topic: Solar System, Astronomy, Exploration/Explorers
  
  Part of a unit on the solar system and the elements in it. This book focuses more on space exploration so it gives the students an up-close view of the moon from the astronauts perspective. They could write stories about if they have ever wanted to travel to outerspace. They could write letters to real astronauts.
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  Alexandria K

  This book is about the moon. It is interesting. It has lots of photographs. I learned that the moon was made a long time ago. The first astronaut who stepped on the moon and the apollo mission were interesting to read about.
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  Katie

  Great book for children interested in space. Has a great deal of info about Apollo missions to the moon and the environment of the moon. Great to add to your non-fiction collection. Appropriate for grades 2-5.
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  Julie Suzanne

  Full of facts about the moon in a way that I, a non-science-minded person, could understand. This actually really fascinated me. I'm going to put a copy on my shelves in school.
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  Theresa

  The Moon
  Simon, Seymour *
  great pictures and good information
  
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  Patricia

  A very informative book about the Moon. It includes information from space missions to the moon to the composition of the moon and what it is like there. There are many nice photographs included.
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  Emily

  Mostly we looked at the pictures and read selected bits. Interesting for older children. June 19, 2012
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  Rani

  A good introduction to Moon, but needs updating.
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  Rachel Hancock

  This is a great informational book about the moon. It has actual pictures to show children just what the moon looks like.