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After reading this book to a sixth-grade class in Tucson, where saguaros are prevalent, the students realized that saguaros are very unique to the Sonoran Desert, where they reside. I was lucky to have the opportunity to share Desert Giant with Mrs. Caccamise's sixth grade class. The book covers one amazing aspect of the unique Sonoran Desert, the saguaro cactus. Since every student in the class lives in the Sonoran Desert, I had them write their favorite aspect of living in the desert. There were many interesting responses, here are a few:

The desert is really fun. It has cool weather in the winter, but in summer it's hot. If you come to Tucson, where I live, you might want to bring sunscreen. There are less people, probably because it's hot. When the monsoons come it's fun. A monsoon is when it starts raining a lot. This is why I enjoy the desert.

--Christina

Hi, my name is Níco. I am telling you why I live in Tucson, Arizona. I like Tucson because it has really good weather, but sometimes it gets really hot. I also like all the species of snakes. One of my favorite kinds of snakes is the gardner snake. They make good pets. Tucson also has great historical sites like Old Tucson. Old Tucson shows how Tucson was in the old days. Old Tucson has food and rides. It is great!

--Níco

The thing I like most about the desert is all the animals. Some of the animals are: coyotes, gila monsters, rabbits, dogs, scorpions, javelinas and bugs. Maybe you don't know what a javelina is, so I will tell you. A javelina is a wild pig. Once a javelina got into my garage. It was eating my dog's food. Thank you for listening.

--Katherine

The Desert Animal
I live in the desert and there are a lot of wild animals. I enjoy seeing the wild animals. The one I enjoy the most is the rabbit. The rabbits hop around the desert very quietly. They are kind of scared of people. Rabbits are also house pets. The desert is a quiet and gentle place with the rabbits.

--Cortnie

What I like most about the desert is the animals and the variety of friends. The animals are my favorite creatures of the desert because they come in the strangest, but neatest shapes and sizes. Animals are also very fun to have as pets and watch all the strange things they can do. With animals you can make friends. Friends are a big part of life in the desert especially if you want fun. Without friend in the desert you feel lonely. That's why I love the desert because you can have people or animal friends.

--Angel

The Desert
There are many reasons why I like living in the desert. One is that it is a peaceful and quiet place. There are not very many people in the desert because they think it's too hot and humid, but I think it's just fine. The desert is a very beautiful place to live and there's much to do. The desert can get very hot, but hey, that's why we have air conditioning! If I could pick a place to live I would stay with where I do. The desert isn't a half bad place to live, actually it is very nice to live in the desert.

--A.