Southwest Children's Literature

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A Day in the Desert

Book Review:

A Day in the Desert is a beautifully told story. Written with detail and a desire for learning, it demonstrates what a first-grade class at Robert Taylor Elementary School learned about the Mojave Desert in Nevada. It tells a story of how animals of the desert spend their day beginning with the sun rising over the beautiful mountains and the cactus blooming. The sentences are short and tell about desert animals: the jackrabbit, the rattlesnake, kangaroo rats, lizards, the woodpeckers who peck at a tree, and how a roadrunner gets food and water. At the end of the story, night comes to the desert with the sky changing colors to the singing of animals.

Not only did the first graders write such an informative story about the desert, but they also illustrated it themselves. The students' drawings are as strong as their words. Each page is created with crayon-resistant watercolor. Vivid color is involved in each drawing along with the creativity of a first-grader. It is amazing how the reader can see the students' eagerness to learn through both their words and their drawings.

A Day in the Desert was the 1993 " Kids Are Authors" book. The Kids Are Authors Competition was established by School Book Fairs in 1986. This contest encourages children not only to read books but to become involved in the creative process of writing and illustrating books as well. This competition has prompted thousands of children to write, design, and illustrate their own books. Willowisp Press publishes the winner of the yearly competition.

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