About Habitats: Deserts [Hardcover]

Cathryn Sill (Author), John Sill (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: About Habitats

This new series for the very young highlights the defining characteristics of habitats, including the plant and animal life, using examples from around the world.

Award-winning author Cathryn Sill and her husband, noted wildlife illustrator John Sill, offer young readers a first glimpse into desert habitats.

In simple, easy-to-understand language, this guide teaches children what deserts are, what kinds of animals and plants live there, and how certain species have adapted to the unique challenges of surviving in this harsh environment.

John Sill's beautifully detailed, full-color illustrations reflect the diversity of desert topography-- from the vast dunes of the Arabian Desert to the rocky Chihuahuan Desert in the southwestern U.S.-and the astonishing varieties of desert wildlife. A glossary and afterword provide young readers with further fascinating details on the desert, its creatures, and its conditions.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

From the Sills' About Habitats series, this handsome book introduces deserts. On each right-hand page is a large painting illustrating plants, animals, or both in a specific desert landscape. Some of the paintings focus on particular plants or animals, while others show broad landscapes, but all are well composed, delicately colored, and sensitively lit. Each left-hand page identifies the locale and featured flora or fauna on the right and carries a brief line of text commenting on deserts, their characteristics, and their inhabitants. Facing the title page, a helpful map shows the locations of major deserts around the world and indicates those referred to in the book. The afterword repeats each of the 17 color plates in miniature, accompanied by a paragraph of related information. A glossary and short lists of books and Web sites are appended. Accessible to very young children as well as older students, this is an appealing introduction to the subject. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"A great choice for beginning readers and for sharing aloud, this elegant blend of clearly presented facts and starkly beautiful paintings makes an informative introduction to a harsh environment and the adaptations made by the plants and animals that live there." ?School Library Journal

"...this handsome book introduces deserts...some of the paintings focus on particular plants or animals, while others show broad landscapes, but all are well composed, delicately colored, and sensitively lit...accessible to very young children as well as older students, this provides an appealing introduction to deserts." ?Booklist

"Cathryn and John Sill are all but unequalled in their particular style...luscious watercolors are beautiful, sometimes bordering on the spectacular." ?Bristol Herald Courier

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561453900
• ISBN-13: 978-1561453900
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #183,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Nature > Environment
  • #78 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Environment & Ecology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The seventeen gorgeous plates in this book are more than worth the price of this book!, May 13, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: About Habitats: Deserts (Hardcover)

When you think about deserts, does the word `barren' come to mind? If it does, you would probably be thinking the same thing many other children imagine in their minds. "Deserts are dry places that get very little rain," so chances are, unless you live in a particularly arid place yourself, you may not be used to their unique beauty. In this book, you will discover how beautiful and different deserts can be!

You probably think that all deserts are hot, but it may surprise you that the Great Basin Desert is very cold. Desert terrain can also be variable. Creatures and plant life living in deserts have assorted ways of surviving. All need water and have adapted their lives and habits to obtain it. "Some deserts do not get any rain. Their moisture comes from fog and dew." In the Namib Desert the Fog-basking Beetle gets his water in this manner. There are so many things to learn about deserts.

This gorgeous book is simply written, yet has a dearth of information for the curious. There are seventeen plates in this book. Each one illustrates the concept in the text. For example to illustrate the fact that "some desert animals wait until it rains to become active," the plate shows a scene from the Chihuahuan Desert with a Western Spadefoot Toad lounging in a puddle. In the back of the book each plate is reproduced with a paragraph of additional information. Don't think barren, think big and beautiful!