Desert Giant (pb): The World of the Saguaro Cactus

by Barbara Bash

Overview

A venerable saguaro cactus stands like a statue in the hot desert landscape, its armlike branches reaching fifty feet into the air. From a distance it appears to be completely still and solitary—but appearances can be deceptive. In fact, this giant tree of the desert is alive with activity. Its spiny trunk and branches are home to a surprising number of animals, and its flowers and fruit feed many desert dwellers.
Gila woodpeckers and miniature elf owls make their homes inside the saguaro's trunk. Long-nosed bats and fluttering white doves drink the nectar from its showy white flowers. People also play a role in the saguaro's story: each year the Tohono O'odham Indians gather its sweet fruit in a centuries-old harvest ritual.
In this first volume of Sierra Club Books' Tree Tales series, a simple, easy-to-read text and appealing drawings document the life cycle of this amazing cactus tree and the creatures it helps to support. Readers will come away with a better understanding of and a lasting respect for this accomodating giant of the desert.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578050857
Publisher:	Smith, Gibbs Publisher
Publication date:	09/06/2002
Series:	Sierra Club Books for Kids
Pages:	28
Sales rank:	158,985
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Lexile:	980L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Barbara Bash, author-illustrator of six award-winning titles for Sierra Club Books for Children, has worked for many years as a calligrapher, illustrator, and teacher of book arts and botanical drawing. She lives in upstate New York.

Barbara Bash, author-illustrator of six award-winning titles for Sierra Club Books for Children, has worked for many years as a calligrapher, illustrator, and teacher of book arts and botanical drawing. She lives in upstate New York.

Read an Excerpt

A strange and wonderful tree grows in the desert. It is called a saguaro (sa-WAHR-o) cactus. and its Latin name is Cereus giganteus.

There are many unusual shapes in the saguaro world. Walking out among them, you might feel as though you''re surrounded by people—the Saguaro People.

Editorial Reviews

These giant denizens of the Sonoran desert--and the multitudinous life forms they sustain or affect--are depicted in vivid text and paintings. Ages 6-10. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 1-6 A lap-size book with colorful, detailed illustrations that complement clear text descriptive of the life cycle of a saguaro cactus and its uses by and contributions to southwestern desert dwellersinsect, reptile, animal, and human. Bash is informative without oversimplification or hyperscientificism. For pictorial and topic information, Desert Giant is comparable to Patricia Lauber's Life on a Giant Cactus (Garrard, 1974), and superior to Anita Holmes' The 100-Year-Old Cactus (Four Winds, 1983). It contains a delightful sequence showing how desert Indians harvest and use saguaro fruitnot mentioned in either of the other books. A handsome addition to books on this subject. George Gleason, Department of English, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield

School Library Journal