A DESERT YEAR
by Carol Lerner & illustrated by Carol Lerner
A handsome introduction to desert animals and plants. On a typical two-page spread depicting summer birds, four species are shown with a page of descriptive text and a full-color drawing. Size and scale are not given; scientific names appear only in the index. Since illustrations are not captioned, the viewer is lured into some minor detective work in order to distinguish the ash-throated flycatcher from the black-throated sparrow. Other illustrations combine above- and below-ground views with inserts showing enlargements. There are interesting bits of nature lore here: the road runner has a patch of black on his back to absorb additional heat; the Texas horned lizard squirts a thin stream of blood from its eyes to irritate its predators; eggs of a Couch's spadefoot toad hatch in a single day. Still, less successful in capturing the panorama of desert life than Bash's Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus (1989). Index. (Nonfiction. 10-12)