D IS FOR DESERT

Take an abecedarian journey through the world’s arid regions.

The cover of this board book promises “A DESERT ABC PRIMER” and the contents deliver with straightforward entries such as “A IS FOR ARMADILLO” and “B IS FOR BEDROCK.” While no specific deserts are named, context clues lead readers around the world from the deserts of Australia (“K IS FOR KANGAROO”; “T IS FOR THORNY DEVIL”; “W IS FOR WALLABY”) to the American Southwest (“J IS FOR JOSHUA TREE”; “Y IS FOR YUCCA”) to the Middle East (“F IS FOR FENNEC FOX”; “N IS FOR NOMADS”). Some of the items will be unfamiliar to children, so the lack of a glossary is unfortunate. Readers may erroneously conclude that “XERIC” refers to the plant centered in the accompanying illustration; “X IS FOR XEROPHYTE” would have been more appropriate. Although many desert animals are more active at night when it is cooler, no night scenes are depicted; however, the “U IS FOR UNDERGROUND” spread shows several animals in burrows avoiding the heat. The illustrations are rendered in a simple vector art style and portray almost all of the friendly-looking animals (some of whom aren’t named in the text) facing the reader, as if seeking interaction. Alas, on some spreads, the white font gets all but lost in the pale desert sky. This book should succeed in awakening the reader’s inner explorer and may leave children primed for deeper plunges. (The book was reviewed digitally.)

A solid introduction to deserts that will also help small children develop alphabet knowledge.