Desert Baths

Darcy Pattison

Kathleen Rietz

Syvan Dell Publishing

6 Stars

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Inside Jacket: As the sun and the moon travel across the sky, learn how twelve different desert animals face the difficulty of stay clean in a dray and parched land. Explore the desert habitat through its animals and their habits of hygiene. Darcy Pattison and Kathleen Rietz team up again to explore the desert to find out how snakes, spiders, and birds bathe.

Desert Baths begins at dawn as the Turkey Vulture turns to the east and takes a sunbath. Eleven more desert animals will have taken a bath unique to themselves by the end of the book. The text explains the techniques and often the whys of each animals bathing. The twelve spreads, filled from edge-to-edge with Ms. Rietz’s realistic watercolor paintings, brings the book and all its biology and ecology to life.

The texts are written in lyrical prose that smoothing flow off the tongue, making the book easy to read. You will learn of the interesting habits of these often-unusual animals and that not every creature uses soap and water. In fact, not all have easy access to water. Some have none.

Desert Baths is a must have for the classroom. In the back of the book are eight additional pages of information that enhances that of the book. This includes Fun Facts  delves further into the animal habitats found in the desert. There is also a map of North America showing the deserts of the region (four: Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahua), a quick quiz and a section on using the sun to tell time.

I like this book because it has lots of information, is beautifully illustrated, and would make a great resource for a report or a classroom lesson on the desert, desert animals, or lack of water. Libraries should grab this book, especially those in a desert region. Kids who like animals of all types will like Desert Baths.  This book is also available in Spanish.

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Do you know? (True or False?) Scaled quail put ants on their feathers because ants drop an acid that helps protect the bird’s skin?

 

Kathleen Rietz, illustrator of Desert Baths interviewed last night at Kid Lit Reviews. Click HERE! to read the interview.

Video: How do Desert Animals Bath? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRb6KpPROOQ

Desert Baths

Author: Darcy Pattison   website   
Illustrator: Kathleen Rietz   website
Publisher: Syvan Dell Publishing   website
Release Date: August 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-6-718-525-3
Number of Pages: 32     
Ages 7 to 11    Grades: 1 to 5

Text: Copyright ©2012 by Darcy Pattison, used with permission.

Illustrations: Copyright ©2012 by Kathleen Rietz, used with permission.

answer: true