Desert Legends: Re-Storying the Sonoran Borderlands

Book Description

A profusely illustrated and lively primer on the plants and animals of the Sonoran Desert. This classic includes scores of photographs by top southwestern nature photographers.

Average customer rating:

Poetic writings and lovely illustrations
Excellent and Interesting for young children

Welcome to the Sea of Sand
Jane Yolen
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Biology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0399227652

Book Description

"Only Jane Yolen could write such a wonderful and poetic tribute to the beauties of the desert, where there is constant amazement to be found....Regan's paintings are inviting and breathtaking." --American Bookseller

"A poetic narrative that invites readers into Arizona's Sonora Desert through a collaboration of art and words, and gives a comfortable armchair tour of a beautiful, rugged, surprisingly varied place." --School Library Journal, starred review

"Words and pictures on the opening page portray the desert as an ocean of sand and rocks, but the remainder of this book shows another side of the desert, one teeming with life." --Booklist

Customer Reviews:

Poetic writings and lovely illustrations.......2003-09-30

Beautiful illustrations of desert plants and animal life with short but eloquent descriptions. Dispelling the myth that deserts are barren and lifeless, the author and illustrator show the desert teeming with life. Birds and animals not mentioned in the text but shown in the illustrations are listed at the back of the book. This is a wonderful quick read to round out learning about life in the desert. The life in this desert seems to be that of the southwestern United States and there is a reference to find more information through the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Excellent and Interesting for young children.......2001-10-20

Welcome to the Sea of Sand, is an excellent informational book for younger children. It shows children that the desert can be a home for many types of wildlife and plants. It also has fun facts listed that impress children and who knows, maybe will impress adults too!

Dry Borders: Great Natural Reserves of the Sonoran Desert

Average customer rating:

Accessible to lay readers, natural history enthusiasts and scientists alike.
An incredible compilation

Dry Borders: Great Natural Reserves of the Sonoran Desert

Manufacturer: University of Utah Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0874808197

Customer Reviews:

Accessible to lay readers, natural history enthusiasts and scientists alike........2007-03-06

Edited by natural historian Richard Stephen Felger and research associate Bill Broyles, Dry Borders: Great Natural Reserves of the Sonoran Desert is an in-depth natural history reference and resource of the Sonoran Desert in southwestern Arizona and northwestern Mexico. Chapters examine the Sonoran Desert's geography, geology, flora and fauna, indigenous people, aquatic life of the adjoining gulf, and much more. An inset selection of color plates a geographic dictionary of place names, and an index round out this comprehensive guide accessible to lay readers, natural history enthusiasts and scientists alike.

An incredible compilation.......2007-02-05

I recommend this book for anyone who has any curiosity about desert ecosystems, the Sonora and the Gulf of California. Rarely does one find a book that is both highly authoritative and immensely readable. This one is both.

The book is richly illustrated with photographs, diagrams and tables. The authors personally discuss their journeys of discovery. By the time one goes through this book they have had a first hand tour of the desert, the people of the Sonora and their great personable travel guides.There is also mention of the impact of time and "civilization" on the Sonora.

I recommend this book highly for Sonoran and desert hikers as a field book and those looking for a reference. You can't beat the price.

Living on the Edge: Amazing Relationships in the Natural World

Average customer rating:

On the wild side...
The Best Nature Book Out There
Poetic imagery for the Natural world
Web of Life
Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Living on the Edge: Amazing Relationships in the Natural World
Jeff Corwin
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Rain Forests | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1594860556
Release Date: 2004-10-14

Book Description

Now Available in Paperback!No one engages the natural world the way Jeff Corwin does. One of America's favorite nature-show hosts, Corwin demonstrates awe and respect for nature in a way that is both wildly funny and educational. In this beautiful book, illustrated with his own photographs, he reminisces about his at-times-perilous and often hilarious journeys as he explores the fantastic relationships among the diverse flora and fauna in four exotic ecosystems: the Sonoran Desert of Arizona; the Savannah of southeastern Africa; the Costa Rican rainforest; and the Llanos grassland in Venezuela. From a lizard that ejects a blood-like squirt from its eyes when in danger to perhaps the most bizarre turtle on the planet-we meet some wonderfully unique creatures and learn about their interdependence and competition in their natural habitats.

Customer Reviews:

On the wild side..........2007-07-09

Join Jeff Corwin as he shows us the dry, hot desert of Arizona, the life and death struggle in southeastern Africa, the rain forests of Costa Rica, and the grasslands of the Venezuela. Along the way we learn about life, death, love, and the web of nature. He also pops in facts and short stories, many of which are as funny as you can get without a Nun's outfit, a donkey and a jar of peanut butter.
The book itself is a lovely hardcover, with full color photos and something I would be proud to have on my coffee table if I had a coffee table. And it is so enjoyable to read you could easily finish it in a day if you wanted to.

The Best Nature Book Out There.......2005-10-28

Jeff Corwin is not only a great tv personality but is also a very good author. I have read his book like three times already and each time I read it I like it even more.The pictures, all of which he took himself, are great and I like how he goes into his life experiences with animals. Also, I like how he sprinkles humor throughout the book. I have learned so much from Jeff Corwin and he is the reason I am majoring in Environmental Science. He has made me realize how important it is to protect the environment and all of the animals in it.

Poetic imagery for the Natural world.......2005-10-17

This book is great! Altho I am a big fan of Jeff's and the Jeff Corwin Experience, I am still blown away by this book. Jeff describes everything vividly, yet in a beautifully poetic way (i've never heard of so many diff ways to describe the sunset). I was really surprised b/c he isn't like that on the show. I loved that many lesser-known animals are introduced, as well as the more common ones. Also, I loved that Jeff gave us the pecularities/specialties of each animal so I'm not just reading the same old boring stuff that I've read in too many nature books or seen on tv. I've learned a lot of things that I never knew about (ie: the symbiosis btwn strangler fig & wasp) and Jeff describes them all so vividly that it was even better than watching the show. The only complaint I have is that there's not enough pictures. But as I read along, I realized that Jeff already painted the whole scene for me that photos would just be icing on the cake. I totally and whole-heartedly recommend this book to any nature lover!

Web of Life.......2005-09-21

Gives good complex look at the animals in different environments and shows the environmental issues challenging each place. Filled with stories from Jeff Corwin's life and his own encounters with both exotic and extraordinary animals.

Take a Walk on the Wild Side .......2004-12-06

This is a very entertaining and educational book. I'm a fan of The Jeff Corwin Experience, and this book did not disappoint me. It is very well organized and well written, and I was amazed at the way it managed to drop me right down into the middle of the Costa Rican rainforest or the African savannah. What I particularly liked was the variety of bizarre and fascinating details that Jeff adds. I found myself sharing these bizarre facts (like giant anaconda orgies that can last for weeks and weeks...woohoo!)with all sorts of people who, no doubt, thought I was some sort of animal expert now. But best of all is Jeff's obvious enthusiasm for the subject matter, particularly the topic of conservation. It's hard not to enjoy his stories when he presents them with such passion and humor. I definitely recommend this book to Jeff Corwin fans and any readers who want to take a walk on the wild side.

A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert (Arizona Sonora Desert Museum)

Average customer rating:

An Essential Guide to a Great Desert
Scholarly
Armchair nature watching
natural history of the sonoran desert
natural history of the sonoran desert

A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert (Arizona Sonora Desert Museum)
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0520219805

Book Description

The Sonoran Desert is one of the most wildly diverse and fascinating regions in the world. Covering southeastern California, the southern half of Arizona, most of Baja California, and much of the state of Sonora, Mexico, this vast area is home to an amazing variety of plants and animals. Its terrain varies dramatically, from parched desert lowlands to semiarid tropical forests and frigid subalpine meadows. A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert provides the most complete collection of Sonoran Desert natural history information ever compiled and is a perfect introduction to this biologically rich desert of North America.
The authors--experts in many fields--begin with a general look at the region's geology, paleoecology, climate, human ecology, and biodiversity. The book then looks in depth at hundreds of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, native fishes, and invertebrates that live in the northern part of the Sonoran Desert. Throughout, the text is supplemented with anecdotes, essays, color and black-and-white photographs, maps, diagrams, and 450 finely-rendered drawings. This comprehensive, accessible natural history is written for nonscientists and will surely become an invaluable companion for nature enthusiasts, birdwatchers, hikers, students, and anyone interested in the desert Southwest.
A copublication with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Customer Reviews:

An Essential Guide to a Great Desert.......2005-06-11

I grew up in the Sonoran Desert, in the ultra hot (and humid!) city of Yuma, Arizona. During my time there I visited the Californian and northern Baja Californian sections of this huge hyperarid land. I eventually moved to the less humid (if less hyperarid in terms of rainfall) city of Tucson, where I explored a considerable part of the eastern Arizonan part of the desert, as well as taking trips into the desert in southern Baja California and Sonora itself. This is a fascinating land and one with great surprises, such as a fauna of fish and aquatic insects, desert crusts of cyanobacteria, tropical birds, army and leaf-cutting ants and strange plants.

Now Steven J. Phillips and Patricia Comus of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum have edited a neat guide to the area in "A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert". The various sections contain numerous bits of information, many of which were new to me despite about 25 years of wandering in the Sonoran Desert. The discussions of the structure and history of the desert are particularly informative. This book should be in the bookshelf, and indeed in the knapsack (despite its size), of all travelers in this fantastic desert.

I have to admit that I know five of the authors- namely Steve Prchal, Renee Lizotte, Gary Paul Nabhan, Carl A. Olson and Thomas Van Devender- excellent writers all- but I can also say that it is a worthwhile book based just on the work of writers whom I've never met and so I can claim some non-bias.

To add to this praise I have a few very minor quibbles. I wish that there had been more reference sections- certainly there are several books on the identification of desert plants, birds, mammals and fish! Also, as a jumping spider specialist I was disappointed that the quite readily seen red and black Apache jumping spider (Phidippus apacheanus), which appears to mimic velvet ants, was not mentioned (but then I am prejudiced!). Also not mentioned were the bright red velvet mites that emerge after desert rains (I get these brought to me all the time by people wanting to know what they are.) In addition, I could not find any reference in the index to tadpole shrimp- a very abundant inhabitant of desert temporary pools. I suppose that there was little room to add such in this already over 600 page work, but it is a pity, as I think they are of interest to the visitor. One other quibble is that I personally dislike the term "brown spider" as there are lots of "brown spiders"- including wolf spiders, some crab spiders, and many others. I prefer "violin spider" as being more specifically descriptive, although I could never get W. J. Gertsch to agree with me on this (I believe that he is the original source of this common name!)

Having said this, I will reiterate that anybody who wants to have some idea of what they are seeing in the Sonoran Desert has to have this book! They can find no better guide on the market!

Scholarly.......2002-12-28

Subjects are thoroughly covered and the information is written in a friendly and interesting manner. If you have a question about the Sonoran Desert, you will most likely find the answer here. Among other surprises, this book offered my first look at the "creeping devil cactus" - how interesting! I'd never even heard of it before. "A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert" is a book you will turn to for detailed information that can be trusted as well as entertainment. Very nice photographs and illustrations. A great book for a nature lover, even if the Sonoran Desert holds no particular interest to them.

Armchair nature watching.......2002-10-16

This is the ideal book to take along on trips to the Sonora Desert. Whether it is the Cailfornian , including Baja, Arizonian(it actually covers five states) or Mexican portions of the vast and diverse Sonara Desert, the details and complexities of this eco system are truly amazing. This book is an indespensible guide to all facets of this immense gift, including the many plants and animals that inhabit this harsh yet bountiful environment. It is a book to read before, as well as after the trips to the desert. Since it is so diverse and vast , covering some 100, 000 sq.mi., the amount of information given is quite a bit but done in such a mannner that one can easily navigate the text to the desired area of interest Inevitably one will stray into an area of new found interest. The little known facts are a lay persons path to knowledge about what the heck they just saw or are about to see. The black and white illustrations for the plants and animals you will or did encounter are excellent and extremely helpful for identification. There is a section with color photographs as well to further illustrate the beauty of the Sonora Desert. With contributions by some thirty five different experts in their pespective field this book is the ultimate guide. Do not hesitate to buy this book if you are visting the Sonora Desert as it will prove to be a valuble reference tool that can be used over and over. Since there is so much to learn about the Sonora Desert and it's inhabitants, this book can be read anytime, anywhere since it is nearly impossible to experience it all. Recommended for the tourist, naturalist or anyone interested in learning more about the 2000 species of plants, 550 species of verbrates and thousands of unknown invertebrate species who make the Sonora Desert home. This is truly fascinating material that only nature can provide so don't hesitate to purchase this book.

natural history of the sonoran desert.......2001-03-03

we agree with all of the other reveiws.... a great discovery and a great resource....Glad we got it...

natural history of the sonoran desert.......2001-03-03

we agree with all of the other reveiws.... a great discovery and a great resource....Glad we got it...

Saguaro Moon: A Desert Journal (Sharing Nature With Children Book)

Average customer rating:

Wow! Beautiful, educational and fun!
Wonderful Book!

Saguaro Moon: A Desert Journal (Sharing Nature With Children Book)
Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
Manufacturer: Dawn Publications (CA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1584690364

Book Description

Here is another model nature journal from a naturalist who has been journaling habitats since she was a youngster. In the desert she sees Gila monsters, watches scorpions with a black light and harvests saguaro flowers with a Native American family that helps her see this unique, arid environment with appreciative eyes. The "collage-style" journal features clippings of articles about animals and plants, stories of the native Tonoho O'odham, her own youthful journal entries, and even her own desert poetry. "Saguaro Moon" is a wonderful way to learn about the desert and also be inspired to keep a nature journal.

Customer Reviews:

Wow! Beautiful, educational and fun!.......2003-03-30

Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini began writing her fabulous books at age 14. In her fifth book, Kristin has taken her journaling habits and transformed them into interesting and educational masterpiece.

Saguaro Moon takes you on a journey through the Sonoran desert (and through the seasons) while educating you about deserts, the plant life, insects, birds, reptiles and other animals. Obscure facts are included along with references to other books, web references, and an invitation to become a Planet Scout. This is a great book for any child, teacher or home educator!

Wonderful Book!.......2002-09-11

This is a fun book that is interesting for anyone to read. It is well designed because there are journal entries as well as informative articles written by the author on every page. The illustrations are full of color and I enjoy the attention to detail that fills this book.

Book Description

In the early summer of 1898, John C. Van Dyke, an asthmatic forty-two-year-old art historian and critic, rode an Indian pony out of the Hemet Valley, and headed southeast into the Colorado desert. With his dog, his guns, and few supplies, this sickly aesthete wandered, mostly alone, for nearly three years across the deserts of California, Arizona and Mexico. He crossed the Salton Sea Basin, forded the Colorado below Yuma on a raft he built himself, followed the railroad line to Tucson, then turned west again toward Sonora. His exact route is not known; he did not always know where he was himself. He sought both health and beauty in the dry country and wrote that the desert "never had a sacred poet; it has in me only a lover".

This extraordinary book, composed "at odd intervals, when I lay against a rock or propped up in the sand", is a masterpiece of personal philosophy, containing precise scientific analyses of diverse phenomena-- from erosion to sky colors-- and prescient ruminations on the nature of civilization. "The desert should never be reclaimed!" Van Dyke wrote, yet he lived long enough to see the reclamation projects in what became the Imperial Valley. He did not witness the virtual destruction of the Colorado Desert still ongoing. As poet Richard Shelton wonders in his introduction, "Where are the herds of antelope Van Dyke spoke of, and the gray wolves and the pure air?"

This series celebrates the tradition of literary naturalists-- writers who embrace the natural world as the setting for some of our most euphoric and serious experiences. Their literary terrain maps the intimate connections between the human and the natural world, a subject defined by Mary Austin in 1920 as "a third thing... the sum of what passed between me and the Land." Literary naturalists transcend political boundaries, social concerns and historical milieus; they speak for what Henry Beston called the "other nations" of the planet. Their message acquires more w

Customer Reviews:

Poetry in Prose.......2001-05-29

This book is a treasure. Mr. Van Dyke obviously has the soul of a poet, and within his graceful prose he paints vivid and soul-stirring pictures of some of the most beautiful places on earth. He describes in fine detail observations he made on a long trip, on horseback in 1898/99, over, around, and through the lower deserts of Arizona and California. He leaves no stone unturned as he describes the magnificence and beauty of each aspect of the desert, and pulls no punches in his criticism of man's destructive intrusions. To Van Dyke, the play of light and shadow, the star-pocked night skies, the ragged and jagged ranges of mountains, the perfectly adapted plants and animals, the sometimes shifting sands, and the silent river barrier known as the Colorado are each part of the unique sum which is, in its own harsh and angular way, a paradise of color, form, and life: "The Desert."

Speaking as one who has lived on and wandered through this same desert for nearly forty years, I can attest to the accuracy of Van Dyke's physical descriptions and, perhaps more importantly, I can note that I've found here both the magic and the majesty which he so ably describes. Still, this isn't a book for everyone. Those who prefer the gleam of glass towers and the roar of jet planes to flaming sunsets and yapping coyotes, save your money. Van Dyke wrote, "Not in the spots of earth where plenty breeds indolence do we meet with the perfected type. It is in the land of adversity ... that finally emerges the highest manifestation."

Book Description

" Inferno is wonderful—reminiscent of Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire and Terry Tempest Williams' Leap, as well as some of Joy Williams' essays. I am also reminded of Annie Dillard's amazing work, For the Time Being. . . . I think the book is incredibly timely—there is a lot of chatter about 'the death of environmentalism,' and this work catches perfectly and passionately the sterility or lack of dirt and earth that has helped contribute to the extreme weakening of the movement. There is no one answer to the problem, but this is a beautiful and compelling treatment of the weakness."

—Rick Bass

Charles Bowden has been an outspoken advocate for the desert Southwest since the 1970s. Recently his activism helped persuade the U.S. government to create the Sonoran Desert National Monument in southern Arizona. But in working for environmental preservation, Bowden refuses to be one who "outline[s] something straightforward, a manifesto with clear rules and a set of plans for others to follow." In this deeply personal book, he brings the Sonoran Desert alive, not as a place where well-meaning people can go to enjoy "nature," but as a raw reality that defies bureaucratic and even literary attempts to define it, that can only be experienced through the senses.

Inferno burns with Charles Bowden's passion for the desert he calls home. "I want to eat the dirt and lick the rock. Or leave the shade for the sun and feel the burning. I know I don't belong here. But this is the only place I belong," he says. His vivid descriptions, complemented by Michael Berman's acutely observed photographs of the Sonoran Desert, make readers feel the heat and smell the dryness, see the colors in earth and sky, and hear the singing of dry bones across the parched ground.

Written as "an antibiotic" during the time Bowden was lobbying the government to create the Sonoran Desert National Monument, Inferno repudiates both the propaganda and the lyricism of contemporary nature writing. Instead, it persuades us that "we need these places not to remember our better selves or our natural self or our spiritual self. We need these places to taste what we fear and devour what we are. We need these places to be animals because unless we are animals we are nothing at all. That is the price of being a civilized dude."

Customer Reviews:

An artistic and a natural history celebration .......2006-09-24

INFERNO is a lovely gathering of photos by Michael P. Berman of the desert Southwest, reflecting author Charles Bowden's passion for the land he calls home. INFERNO was written while Boweden was lobbying the government to create the Sonoran Desert National Monument: it pairs his nature writing and descriptions with Berman's black and white artistic desert shots and provides both an artistic and a natural history celebration appropriate for collections strong in either topic.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The Sonoran Desert Tortoise: Natural History, Biology, And Conservation (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Studies in Natural History)

Average customer rating:

Look Out For Crows Baby Tortoise!

The Sonoran Desert Tortoise: Natural History, Biology, And Conservation (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Studies in Natural History)

Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0816526060

Book Description

This book presents the first comprehensive summary of the natural history, biology, and conservation of the Sonoran and Sinaloan desert tortoises. Most previous knowledge of desert tortoises comes from studies of Mohave Desert populations in California and Nevada. However, the ecology, physiology, and behavior of these northern populations are quite different from those of their southern, Sonoran Desert, and tropical cousins, which have been studied much less. In The Sonoran Desert Tortoise, Thomas R. Van Devender gathers together decades of research on tortoise populations in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. As the only comprehensive book on the desert tortoise, this volume gathers a vast amount of information for scientists, veterinarians, and resource managers while also remaining useful to general readers who keep desert tortoises as backyard pets.

Customer Reviews:

Look Out For Crows Baby Tortoise!.......2004-05-27

This Book is Outta Sight! and Dy-No-Mite!

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books