Desert Biomes

The six books in the “Earth’s Natural Biomes” series cover most of the major biomes of Earth. Each book is packed with pictures and sidebars with facts and further information. It is interesting that the pictures do include the large animals that children will know and also many insects and small photogenic creatures that they may not. When relevant, there are vista shots; when not available in the habitat, there are great pictures of the appropriate environment. Perhaps the essence of the series is that, in order to care for nature, young people must learn about it.

Fact Focus: Biome or Habitat?
Biomes are regions of the world that have a similar climate, plants, and animals, such as deserts, forests, rivers, oceans, tundra, and grassland. A habitat is the specific place in a biome where a plant or animal lives.

With some variation, each of the books first defines the particular biome along with the plants and animals that inhabit that biome and the different types of that biome that exist. Each of these topics is presented in a two-page spread with large photographs and short, informative text bubbles. A world map shows the major areas where the biomes exist, and other maps show the location of examples given in the text. There are sections on the food chain, people in the area and resources. The information is rounded out with a look at the threats and future of the biome. Each book ends with a glossary, places to look for more information and an index.
Many children will not have seen a desert in person. Desert Biomes gives a good impression of what they would see if they went to one. Here, the authors start by defining a desert and showing where they are located. It is great that they include cold, polar deserts although it is confusing that the Sahara is not included on the map.

The following section shows a variety of desert plants before showing the animals of each of the four types of deserts in more detail. For some of these pages, a specific desert is chosen to be a representative example. The Namib beetles that collect water directly from fog are particularly interesting. The “Born Survivors” section allows for even more fascinating creatures to be included. The sections on people and resources discuss salt mining and oil extractions, apt examples.

The purpose of Desert Biomes is to teach about desert biomes, and it does so appropriately for the early grades. As it would be impossible to cover all of the information in detail, the authors have chosen a wide variety of interesting creatures and locations as examples.

The “Earth’s Natural Biomes” series is a wonderful introduction to the wide variety of habitats on Earth. Louise and Richard Spilsbury have chosen a diverse range of plants and animals to entice readers into the environments. The books in the series would be a beneficial addition to a classroom or school library as they can expand on the information found in textbooks. They will also be useful to individuals who want to see pictures of nature while they also absorb a few facts.