Are you looking for literature to support classroom instruction about Deserts? Check out Our Editors’ Choices for titles recommended by the Education World team. Then it's your turn to share books that you enjoy or use in your classroom in the Our Readers’ Voices section below. With your help, we will build the best list on the Internet of Best Books for teaching about Deserts.
Cactus Hotel
by Brenda Z. Guiberson
Text and illustrations successfully meld to tell this story of the slow-growing saguaro. The plant's 200-year life cycle from seed to final deterioration is presented chronologically. This sequential approach clearly demonstrates plant development and adaptation techniques for survival in a desert habitat. The symbiotic relationship of plant and animal at various stages of growth is shown as birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects visit the cactus. (School Library Journal)
I'm in Charge of Celebrations
by Byrd Baylor
From the highly acclaimed team of Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall comes the story of a girl who shares her love for desert life as she tells of treasured experiences like dancing in the wind on Dust Devil Day or sleeping outside on a hot summer night during The Time of the Falling Stars. Baylor's radiant prose-poem and Parnall's exquisite illustrations combine to create a joyous celebration of the human spirit.
Now It's Your Turn!
We've shared a few Editors' Choices for teaching about this theme. Now it's your turn to contribute to the Readers' Voices section below. Do you have a book related to this theme that you and your students enjoy? Just click here to share it!
Don't miss our Editors’ Choices for Teachers and for Parents. We're waiting for you to add your Readers' Voices there too.
Why Cowboys Sleep With Their Boots On
by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton
Little by little, Slim Jim Watkins finds that his old way of getting ready for bed just won't do, thanks to the nightly entourage of desert animals who play a key role in this cowboy tale. The book is a beautifully illustrated and amusing story that will charm everyone with its surprises, that is, until Slim Jim Watkins learns a thing or two and starts to sleep with his boots on.
Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus
by Barbara Bash
In this large book, colorful, detailed illustrations complement clear text that describes the life cycle of a saguaro cactus and its uses by and contributions to southwestern desert dwellers. These desert inhabitants include insects, reptiles, animals, and humans. This selection contains scientific terms neither too simple nor too complex for elementary students and features a unique and delightful sequence that shows how desert Indians harvest and use saguaro fruit. (School Library Journal) Part of the Tree Tales series.
The Desert Is Theirs
by Byrd Baylor
You may think of the desert as a harsh, dry place where no one would ever want to live -- but think again. The Desert People know, and so do the animals. Both love the land, and "share the feeling of being brothers in the desert, of being desert creatures together."
Byrd Baylor's spare, poetic text and Peter Parnall's striking illustrations limn the sky, stone, and sand of the desert in this haunting book.
Alejandro's Gift
by Richard E. Albert
Alejandro, a man in his 60s, lives in a small adobe house beside an isolated desert road. His only companion is a burro. To ease his loneliness, he tends to his garden. One day, a ground squirrel approaches the garden to drink from its furrows, followed by wood rats, pocket gophers, jackrabbits, kangaroo rats, pocket mice, roadrunners, and others. Time passes more quickly, and Alejandro enjoys his new companions. However, he soon realizes that they come to him for water, not for company, and sets out to dig a water hole for them. (School Library Journal)
Add your voice to our list of books for teaching about Deserts.
The Education World Editors’ Choices above represent just a handful of the fine books that might be used to support classroom instruction about Deserts. Now we’re waiting for you to add to our list. Simply send us your review of a favorite book in 100 words or fewer and we will add it to the Readers’ Choices below.
Why Cowboys Sleep With Their Boots On
