Desert Extremes

Children's Literature - Vicki Foote

Part of the "Extreme Nature" series, this nonfiction text explores desert plants, animals, and ecology. The introduction defines a desert, explains how a desert is formed, and describes some of the world's notable deserts. The next section about desert plants provides facts about how the plants use their roots to collect water and contains additional information about succulents and other plants that are active in the desert. The section about desert animals tells how animals such as fog beetles, sandgrouses, and camels survive in this environment. There are also brief descriptions of interesting and unique animals, such as the caracal, the grasshopper mouse, the fennec fox, and the African lungfish. The book also explains how some of the animals stay cool and how they protect themselves from predators. Another section explains how people have found ways to live in the desert. Several pages are devoted to "Extreme Facts." These pages contain surprising facts, much like the paragraphs throughout the book that are titled "In the Extreme," "Vital Statistics," and "Fast Facts." A table of contents, a glossary, an index, and further resources are also listed. Colorful photographs on each page accompany the interesting text. This is good science resource material that should be appealing to readers. Reviewer: Vicki Foote