Dry, barren, treeless . . . hostile . . . abandoned . . . Those are descriptions of the desert. But if you look, really look, you will see a different world. A world where tadpoles hatch and swim in rain pools; spadefoot toads sense the rain and emerge from deep burrows; and violent storms slam huge saguaros to earth. Little fairy shrimp swim, upside-down, gliding and zooming through the water—until their rain pool disappears. A tarantula falls prey to a huge wasp with long, dangling hind legs, then lies paralyzed, sealed in a tunnel. In spring, wildflowers transform the desert floor into sheets of color. Barrel cacti and saguaros swell with water. Millions of monarch butterflies emerge from cocoons and migrate north, following the spring growth of the milkweed plants. Roadrunners run, hawks circle, and Gila woodpeckers snap up insects and pop in and out of saguaro holes. Hapless scorpions and rattlesnakes drown in flash floods. It is not a land that is dry, barren, abandoned. It is the American Desert. And it is full of life. Animals and plants have adapted to the adverse conditions. Animals flourish in the desert, but must remain alert to its dangers. + + +A Year on the Desert tells the timeless story of life, death, and birth through the changing seasons in the strange and fascinating world of the American Desert.Simply told, in a story-like style, A Year on the Desert is as charming as it is informative. And the desert seems to come alive in the sensitive and beautiful drawings of the late Mel Hunter.The book is designated for ages 10 and up, grades 5 and up. Yet many adults love it just as much as children do. It’s really for people of any age who share a love of nature. "Barbara Goodheart uncovers the teeming life on seemingly barren wastes. . . Perceptive writing, whose poetic mood is echoed in Mel Hunter's drawings." St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "This is a charming account of certain aspects of the annualcycle of desert ecology for intermediate and advanced grade schoolstudents." North Dakota Library Notes. " . . . entertainingly written,as well as being highly instructive." Deirdre LaRouche, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.