Cactus Poems
Book Review:
Cactus Poems by Frank Asch (text author) and Ted Levin (photographer)
is about the preservation of nature in the Sonoran Desert, including
plants, wildlife, and the surrounding environment. The author emphasizes
that the desert environment is fragile, with many species of animals
and plants making the desert their home. Many of Levin's photographs
in the book were taken at the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum near Tucson,
Arizona. The poetry of the Sonoran Desert's plants, animals, and environment
is beautifully intertwined with photographs of the same subject matter
as the text. Other associated themes of the poetry book include exploration
of the desert environment's secrets, vitality, and humor. This book
would especially be useful when combined with interdisciplinary activities,
such as art, reading, language arts, science, and social studies. The
combination of text by Asch and photographs and notes by Levin makes
for a great book for students in grades three to six to read in the
classroom. I would highly recommend this book to educators primarily
for accuracy of its content of the four North American deserts, including
the Sonoran, Mojave, Great Basin, and Chihuahuan Deserts. Many of the
photographs were taken in Saguaro National Park of the Sonoran Desert.
The focus of the book Cactus Poems is to balance the delicate
situation of preserving the natural beauty of the desert environment
with the progress of development in its encroachment of the desert ecosystem
and its natural habitats. The desert is home to animals, plants, and
people, which are gradually becoming a major issue of competition for
limited resources. Water is by far the most limited resource in the
desert, as plants, animals, and humans each depend upon water for their
lives. The emphasis of the author's poetry is to portray that the desert
environment contains valuable resources, which is complimented with
excellent color photographs of desert environments. Future generations
of humans will hold the key to preserving natural desert habitat. Poetry
about the life forms surviving in a fragile desert environment is one
form of literature that can be utilized to pass on the word of treating
the desert ecosystem with respect. Humans play an ever-increasing role
in how the desert environment is impacted, whether for the better or
the worse, depending upon the degree and means of development. (April
2000).
About the Book | Book
Review | Children's Voices | About
the Reviewer