. Watching Desert Wildlife, written and illustrated by Jim Arnosky, published in 1998 by The National Geographic Society, is an Informational picture book about animal life in the desert. I personally liked this book. The beautiful illustrations, writing, and language are brilliantly displayed in this book. I cannot say enough about the illustrations of the animals. They are exact and well organized. On the right of the page the author has the text of the animal. On the left is a detailed drawing visually explaining what he just wrote about. My favorite is the Central snakes and Rattlesnakes found on pages 7 and 8. The picture shows great detail of the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. The picture shows close up detail of the snakes scale emphasizing its shine and patterns. The picture also shows the heat sensing pits of the Western Rattlesnake. These pictures really helped me to have a better visual of the animals and what the author was talking about.
The writing in this book is very organized and flows very well. What I like about the writing is that it is simple enough for someone in elementary school to read yet advanced and entertaining enough to inform them on the animal and keep them entertained in the story. The author also chose to categorize his animals; each section titled that specific animal. This aspect of the writing helps to organize the book.
The language in this book is great. As with the writing, the language of this book is at an elementary level but is displayed in a manner that informs the young reader. The language is very clear and descriptive right down to the last detail of the animal. The author uses informative language skills to describe the markings of a coral snake and how it slithers to catch its prey. The writing is also very clear in distinguishing like animals. In “Desert Deer” the author makes clear the difference between White Tail Deer and Mule Deer. Noting that Mule Deer are bigger and have different shaped antlers than White Tail Deer.
The main idea of the story is exploring the worlds. This book helps the reader to understand how different the world is for animals in the desert than it is for animals in a rainforest. ( )