Cactus Hotel (An Owlet Book) [Paperback]

Brenda Z. Guiberson (Author), Megan Lloyd (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: An Owlet Book

It is another hot day in the desert. Birds and other animals scurry about looking for food. When they get tired, they stop to rest at a giant cactus. It is their hotel in the desert!

Parents' Choice Award
IRA-CBC Teachers' Choice
An NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book
An NCTE Notable Trade Book in the Language Arts

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The intriguing life cycle of the saguaro cactus and the complex web of life that characterizes the North American Sonoran desert is effectively explored in this involving picture book. Guiberson's text captures the reader with its steady pace and often delightful echoes of cumulative nursery tales. She weaves an amazingly large range of facts into this simple story of a fragile ecosystem, and helps children comprehend just how much plants and animals depend upon one another for their survival. Lloyd's ( The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything ) paintings evoke the desert landscape with their pastel-shaded palette, changing point of view and finely rendered scenes of native flora and fauna. Best used as a read-aloud, this is a fine prequel to Barbara Bash's more extensive and detailed Desert Giant . Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- 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. Muted double-page illustrations provide a landscape background for the brighter hues of the cactus flowers and the creatures that come to visit. These illustrations are a gentle contrast to the boldness of Desert Giant (Little, 1989) by Barbara Bash and complement the photographs in The Hidden Life of the Desert (Crown, 1990) by Thomas Wiewandt. --Diane Nunn, Richard E. Byrd Elementary School, Glen Rock, NJ
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (October 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805029605
• ISBN-13: 978-0805029604
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Environment & Ecology > Nonfiction
  • #23 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Nature > Flowers & Plants
  • #37 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Environment & Ecology

More About the Author

As a child, Brenda Z. Guiberson never thought about being an author or illustrator but wondered how she might become a jungle explorer. Much of her time was spent swimming in the Columbia River, watching birds and salmon, searching for arrowheads, and building things or taking them apart. She was curious about many things and had a lot of patience for watching.

In school, she loved science classes. But as she put herself through the University of Washington, it was easier to schedule evening English classes than afternoon science labs. She graduated with B.A. degrees in English and Fine Art.

Her son brought home stacks of books for reading. When he went off to elementary school, she volunteered in the school library and classroom. All these kids and books got her interested in writing for children. After taking exciting trips that involved a fifty-foot cactus, hungry alligators and sunset-colored spoonbills, she wanted to create books for children that would be like a field trip. Early books includeTurtle People, Cactus Hotel and Spoonbill Swamp. Like all the books that followed, they are filled with dramatic detail that came from doing extensive research.

Research, to her, is a great adventure. Finally she gets to be a jungle explorer. It includes talking to experts, looking through dusty collections and reading books. But her favorite part is getting out in the field. She has counted sea turtle eggs at 3 a.m. in Costa Rica, observed dancing flamingos on a salty island in the Bahamas, spent a night in a haunted lighthouse, kissed a dolphin on the snout, and watched graceful leeches swim in a boreal bog. All of this is part of an effort to create surprise, wonder and intrigue in her books. The other part of the effort involves revision, revision and more revision until the book flows with a sense of poetry blended with accurate information.

Whether the research leads to emperor penguins, flamingos, or mummies, she finds stories of wonder, adventure and survival everywhere. They are in the connections between plants and animals, in the links between past and present, in every hot, cold, salty and wet environment from the biggest to the smallest creature.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CACTUS HOTEL IS A REMARKABLE BOOK, December 10, 1999

By 

Richard Goodman (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cactus Hotel (An Owlet Book) (Paperback)

Cactus Hotel is better than a good book. It's a marvelous book. It tells, without sentimentalizing it, the story of the life and death of a saguaro cactus. Though it is the story of one plant in nature and how other animals and insects benefit from its gifts, it is a metaphor for living--for all of us. That does not mean the book is heavy or preachy. Far from it. The text is simple in the best sense of that word and lyrical. The illustrations make you feel as if you were in that desert world, living that life. Through its generous time on earth, the cactus is home to, and provides nourishment for, various desert animals--a Gila woodpecker, an elf owl, many others. It uses its span on earth to be exactly what it was meant to be. All of nature is revealed here in its wise splendor--heat, drought, rain, cold, wind, sun. I have read this book to my daughter countless times, and I will continue to read it to her. I think I love it as much--more--than she. The book is poetry. Pure poetry.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for young and old alike, September 21, 2005

By 

LilTaz93 "liltaz93" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cactus Hotel (An Owlet Book) (Paperback)

Excellent book for young and old alike. As an adult new to the desert, it gave me a good, quick understanding of the 'circle of life' of the Saguaro and the critters involved with it. It is nicely laid out, simple to read, and even speaks of spiders and other sometimes scary beings in a non-threatening manner. Really quite a good book. I even sent a copy to my good friend's 6 and 9 year olds and they, along with their folks, really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cactus Hotel, March 26, 2001

By 

"ruby_payne" (Saugerties, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cactus Hotel (Owlet Book) (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book for children for learning about the interaction of plants and animals in the Southwestern desert environment. Many multi-disciplinary activities can be developed using this marvelous book!