Living and Nonliving in the Desert

by Rebecca Rissman

Overview

How can you tell if something is living or nonliving in the desert? Children reading this book explore a stunning desert habitat while learning how to tell the difference between living and nonliving things, such as rocks, cactuses, and lizards. Headers in the form of questions help guide the reader as they learn the properties of living and nonliving things.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781410953872
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	07/01/2013
Series:	Is It Living or Nonliving?
Pages:	24
Sales rank:	1,110,611
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 6.90(h) x 1.80(d)
Lexile:	380L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 6 Years

About the Author

Rebecca Rissman is an award-winning children's author. She has written more than 200 books about science, history, art, and culture. Her writing has been praised by School Library Journal, Booklist, Creative Child Magazine, and Learning Magazine. She lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her husband and two daughters.

Table of Contents

What Is a Desert? 4

What Are Living Things? 6

What Are Nonliving Things? 8

Is a Rock Living or Nonliving? 10

Is a Lizard Living or Nonliving? 12

Is a Cactus Living or Nonliving? 14

Is Sand Living or Nonliving? 16

Is a Camel Living or Nonliving? 18

Is a Spider Living or Nonliving? 20

What Do You Think? 22

Glossary 23

Find Out More, Index 24

Editorial Reviews

Using simple text and detailed, up-close photographs, this repetitive structure is supportive of emergent readers and supports instruction. Common Core lessons would also be supported using this series.

Library Media Connection

11/01/2013
K-Gr 2—These repetitious books do little to tie information to particular habitats. After a brief definition (e.g., "A mountain is a rocky, tall landform"), the texts contrast living and nonliving things. Simple sentences assert that living things need food, water, air, and sunlight. They grow, change, and move on their own. Nonliving things do not. After applying these characteristics to six examples, the books challenge readers to categorize a seventh item. Five volumes include a rock as a nonliving example, and Mountains asks readers to identify if a rock is living or not. Instead of naming habitat-specific animals, the titles mention "a bird" or "a lizard." Each brief picture glossary repeats again "living" and "nonliving" and defines "sunlight" as "light from the sun." Insistence on sunlight as a requirement for living is inaccurate. Carol K. Lindeen's Living and Nonliving (Capstone, 2008) covers essential concepts in a single volume.

School Library Journal