D Is for Desert

Deserts all over the world are filled with sights and creatures unique to their environments. From cacti to camels, desert dwelling plants and animals have evolved to thrive in the unforgiving climate of their natural habitat. In this book, readers are introduced to heat-dominated desert life around the globe as one page turns to the next. The alphabet serves as a guidepost for the trajectory of the book, but the choices of words connected to the alphabetic letters are often surprising and educational. Children and adults alike are sure to absorb some new vocabulary from this book, especially from the desert environments that may be unfamiliar to them. While cacti are common in the desert southwest of the United States, kangaroos are found in the deserts of Australia. No matter where readers reside, however, they will enjoy building a dialogue around the images on each page of this book. Due to the book’s design, plants and animals that are not normally found in tandem are placed together, which can be confusing for newer readers, although it is not an enormous detriment to the book overall. Built on sturdy board pages, this is an excellent book to share with young children because it will easily withstand close investigation while permitting smaller hands the opportunity to turn pages themselves. Friendly faces and colorful images will connect readers easily to the book, even before they are able to recognize the letters or the words. This is a wonderful board book for parents to share with their young children as a means of introducing both the alphabet itself and its importance in representing words pertinent to desert life. Grades pre-K

— Children's Literature