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:

LOVE IT!!!
Juneau 2nd grader
Science that trips off the tongue.
Superb and Engaging Book
Excellent for young and old alike

Cactus Hotel (An Owlet Book)
Brenda Z. Guiberson
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

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

ASIN: 0805029605

Book Description

It is another hot day in the desert. Birds and other animals scurry about looking for food. When they get tired, they stop to rest at a giant cactus. It is their hotel in the desert!Parents' Choice AwardIRA-CBC Teachers' ChoiceAn NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade BookAn NCTE Notable Trade Book in the Language Arts

Customer Reviews:

LOVE IT!!!.......2007-09-14

Beautifully written. Beautifully illustrated. This is a wonderful story and the kids (ages 7 and 3) were enthralled. It is a science book that reads like the best kind of picture book. We learned so many things from this and had fun doing it. Very highly recommended.

Juneau 2nd grader.......2007-03-23

If you like to read about different kinds of homes and what lives in them, you would like this book. It is about a cactus that lives for 150 years! In that time about 38 animals make holes and move in. After 150 years it falls over and 10 to 20 more animals move in. This is a great book.

Science that trips off the tongue........2005-12-08

A fascinating book about the Saguaro cactus that reads like poetry. Highly recommended. Warning: you will want to take a trip to Arizona.

Superb and Engaging Book.......2005-10-23

Even though it deals with intricate details of the life of a cactus, it has become my almost 3 year old's favorite book. The visual details are very engaging, and our little one loves to point out each of the animals, and "tap tap tap" along with the woodpecker. This book is delightful, and you will learn as much as your child will, as you read it.

Excellent for young and old alike.......2005-09-21

Excellent book for young and old alike. As an adult new to the desert, it gave me a good, quick understanding of the 'circle of life' of the Saguaro and the critters involved with it. It is nicely laid out, simple to read, and even speaks of spiders and other sometimes scary beings in a non-threatening manner. Really quite a good book. I even sent a copy to my good friend's 6 and 9 year olds and they, along with their folks, really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Book of Answers

Average customer rating:

A New Resident's Perspective
A wonderful book about this beautiful part of the country
just by flipping through it, I wanted to buy it!

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Book of Answers
David Wentworth Lazaroff
Manufacturer: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Microscopes & Microsocopy | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

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

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1886679096

Amazon.com

The 200,000 or so people who stroll through Tucson's Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum each year bring with them many questions: What is a desert? How is it that gophers and rattlesnakes can live in the same hole? How can I stop Gila woodpeckers from whittling down my house? If I find a desert tortoise, can I make it a pet? David Lazaroff, a biologist and writer, answers these and dozens more questions in this entertaining, intelligent book, which belongs on every Southwesterner's bookshelf. --Gregory McNamee

Product Description

What exactly is a desert? How can I attract hummingbirds? Are cactus spines poisonous? Is a javelina a pig? This book provides detailed answers to 42 questions that the staff at the Desert Museum are most often asked. Supplemented with nearly 100 illustrations, this 200 page book is broken down into three sections: getting to know the desert, the desert as one's backyard, and enjoying the desert. Seven useful appendixes cover a range of topics including hummingbird gardening, venomous bites and stings, climate, and additional sources of information about desert life. A fun way to learn how wild and fascinating our deserts really are!

Customer Reviews:

A New Resident's Perspective.......2007-01-31

As a new resident, I had lots of questions about such a strange and beautiful land. Everywhere I turned for answers, I was pointed toward this book. So I bought it. The first night after it's arrival I opened it and didn't put it down until it was finished. It's not in my library, however. My wife and I refer to it so much we have to keep it closer.

A wonderful book about this beautiful part of the country.......2000-09-19

This is a great book for anyone that wants to learn about this desert and the plants and animals that live in it. Unlike some of the other books about this topic that are written in an academic/textbook style, this book is written in a lively, question & answer format and is full of interesting and unusual facts. I've lived in this region for over 25 years and I learned quite a bit by reading this book.

just by flipping through it, I wanted to buy it!.......2000-04-04

I only saw this once in the bookstore, and just by flipping through it, I knew it had to be a part of my book-collection. Just moving to the desert southwest, I have been thirsty for more about my new eco-system and home........I may not have so many dilemmas now on critters and plants..........

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!

The Richest of Fare: Seeking Spiritual Security in the Sonoran Desert

Average customer rating:

Apostle for the Desert
MidWest Book Review
The Richest of Reads
Midwest Book Review -- soul satisfying fare

The Richest of Fare: Seeking Spiritual Security in the Sonoran Desert
Phyllis Strupp
Manufacturer: Sonoran Cross Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith

ASIN: 097467270X

Book Description

This innovative volume won the 2005 Independent Publisher Book Award in the New Age/Mind-Body-Spirit category.

To find a renewed sense of purpose in today's world, "The Richest of Fare" weaves together photos, scientific information, and spiritual insights to explore human relationships with Nature, our own selves, other people, and God.

"The Richest of Fare" is appropriate for anyone regardless of religious beliefs, as the focus of the book is on the universal spiritual wisdom of the ages.

Customer Reviews:

Apostle for the Desert.......2004-11-13

I like to think of Phyllis Strupp as "an apostle for the desert." She weaves her love of and inspiration from all of the desert's flora, fauna, and scenes with biblical insight, history, philosophy, science, and literature. The result as an ever so rich tapestry that draws you on from scene to scene, from page to page. As a Bible student myself, I found her biblical references both apt and suggestive. Her book does, indeed, nurture one's spirit.

MidWest Book Review.......2004-07-29

It isn't often that you can get lost in the beauty of a book, this was the case with "The Richest of Fare."
Words crafted skillfully to describe the life and beauty of the Sonoran Desert weave their way into your heart and make you yearn to be part of it's majesty.
Accompanied by colorful pictures, your spirit senses the pure spiritual side of this part of creation, as the author shares pictures of landscape and creatures that merge to make this desert what it is.
The Richest of Fare is more than a book, it is a spiritual awakening to what has been before us since the world began. It is a reminder that truly our Maker speaks to us in all that He has created.
Well worth your time.
Shirley Johnson
Senior Reviewer
Denise's Pieces
MidWest Book Review

The Richest of Reads.......2004-07-14

I read about this book in our local paper and decided to carve out some time and read it. I am so glad that I did. The author has helped me to understand why I hunger for nature when my spirit hungers for purpose. This book is filled with quotes that relate to scriptures and ultimately author observations. Many times, I found myself stopping mid-page and thinking about how the observatins applied in my life. For example, she points out that so many of our spiritual leaders (Jesus, Moses, David and Isaiah, to name a few) retreated into the desert when they needed to find their spiritual security. Why? I had never thought about it before, to tell you the truth. But now that I have I realize that, as usual, there was and still is a very good reason. Does it ever feel like each day passes at the speed of sound? This book encourages you to spend some time in nature (even if you just look at the beautiful pictures). It is there that you will come to realize that these anxious feelings are man (or woman) made. Nature is moving at the exact same pace it has for millions of years.
There is a wealth of information in this book about wild life, plant life and the universe. I found it so interesting and I've often used it to generate discussion around our dinner table. I highly recommend adding this book to your reading collection. You will find yourself going back to it again and again. I know I have and I just read it a few weeks a go.

Midwest Book Review -- soul satisfying fare.......2004-06-26

I have always imagined deserts to be nothing but sand dunes. The Richest of Fare changed that ill-informed idea. Blending scientific fact, spiritual truths, and stunning photographs with thoughtful prose, the author has created beauty for our senses. Visually appealing and emotionally comforting, this book is one you'll want to keep.

In ages past, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed all sought spiritual renewal in the desert. Stark beauty, blessed silence, and the awesome nighttime sky drew them closer to God's message. On a daily basis, modern man has been estranged from the natural world. Artificial lighting prevents city dwellers from seeing the stars. Concrete and sprawling subdivisions separate us from earth's spirit. We sense an isolation; wonder at a feeling of indifference; and struggle unsuccessfully to create a finer meaning for our existence. America, especially, the richest and most blessed of all countries, is floundering. To paraphrase Thoreau, civilization has improved our houses but not the men who inhabit them. This richest country in the world boasts 44 million uninsured citizens; 10 million illegal immigrants; 9 million unemployed; and 4 million homeless souls. Something is wrong with this picture and Ms. Strupp makes a compelling argument in explanation.

Quotes by Thoreau, Francis of Assisi, H.G. Wells, Marcus Aurelius, Charles Darwin and others are combined with Old and New Testament writings to make her point. Poetic metaphors enhance Ms. Strupp's well-written prose. In the desert monsoon season, "air clings to you like a desperate beggar." Runoff deposits after a hard desert rain become "little shards of eternity." Earth has been transformed by warring humans into "a sponge to sop up blood." Those who plunder Earth like a commercial commodity are "spoiled children betraying their mother." The writing, photographs, and well-chosen quotes create a spiritual picture I won't soon forget.

The Richest of Fare is not a "religious" book It's spiritually encouraging, emotionally comforting, informative and educational. It may impact how you look at life, your fellow man, the desert and the cosmos. This one is highly recommended for readers who are searching for true meaning in their lives.

Average customer rating:

Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert
Wendy C. Hodgson
Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West: A Guide to Identifying, Preparing, and Using Traditional Medicinal Plants Found in the Deserts and C

ASIN: 0816520607

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.

A Desert Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk in the Sonoran Desert

Average customer rating:

A Must For Every Elementary School Classroom

A Desert Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk in the Sonoran Desert

Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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

ASIN: 0689850557

Book Description

In the early morning hours, an artist stirs. Gathering her paints and notebook, she heads into the Arizona Sonoran Desert to explore its treasures. Sketching, painting, and writing, she records all that she sees and as night falls, she spreads out her pictures to make this scrapbook of her day, from dawn to dusk.

Customer Reviews:

A Must For Every Elementary School Classroom.......2000-06-24

This book is so very full of incredible information about deserts. Amazing illustrations too!Buy it and show your kids! They'll keep coming back to it!

Average customer rating:

The author is not just an Ethnobotanist, he's a Poet!

Gathering the Desert.
Gary Paul Nabhan
Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0816510148

Customer Reviews:

The author is not just an Ethnobotanist, he's a Poet!.......2002-09-15

Quite simply, read this book. It turns the subject of "ethnoecology" (sounds dull, doesn't it?!) into a poetic duet of plants and the relationship native peoples developed with them. Nabhan, in this book, profiles several individual species (found in his beloved Sonoran desert) as intimately as a biographer would profile an admired personage. The illustrations are delicate and so accurate you could go out and identify each species at first sight. I became enchanted, and wistful, at Nabhan's accounts of ingenious interactions of Southwest Amerinds and useful plants that allowed both to survive and thrive in such a harsh region. Wistful, because many of these vital prehistoric resources, such as panic grass and sandfood, are unknown to modern peoples, and virtually extinct. And with them, human ability to survive such harsh landscapes without radically modifying them is going extinct as well.
From Nabhan's perspective (in all his books), native peoples of a region are not interlopers, but another component of a balanced local ecology; the ecological diversity & resource potentials lost when the First World imposes foreign ecologies on regions is a subtext of all Nabhan's writings.
Each chapter of "Gathering the Desert" stands by itself; but together they lead to a conclusion of incomparable adaptation to what Euro-Americans see as a cactus "wasteland". I assign readings from this book, and the entire book, to my college classes in Southwest Indians and ecological anthropology. However, it has much wider appeal, and to call it "highly readable" is an understatement. I respect Nabhan's careful academic research and his commitment to actually going into the field to experience the peoples and the natural environment directly. I admire even more his ability to make what is very commonly a dull reporting of "what people ate" into a literary symphony. All his books are excellent; this is the best of the best.

Average customer rating:
Zur abstammung einiger angiospermen durch Gnetales und Coniferae. II. Centrospermae, (Kgl. danske videnskabernes selskab. Biologiske meddelelser. XIII)
Olaf Hagerup
Manufacturer: Levin & Munksgaard, Ejnar Munksgaard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00086XX4G

Average customer rating:
Morphogenesis of the reproductive shoots of Welwitschia mirabilis and Ephedra distachya (Gnetales), and its evolutionary implications [An article from: Organisms Diversity & Evolution]
M. Mundry , and T. Stutzel
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000RQZ4TO

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Organisms Diversity & Evolution, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
For decades, Gnetales appeared to be closely related to angiosperms, the two groups together forming the anthophyte clade. At present, molecular studies negate such a relationship and give strong support for a systematic position of Gnetales within or near conifers. However, previous interpretations of the male sporangiophores of Gnetales as pinnate with terminal synangia conflict with a close relationship between Gnetales and conifers. Therefore, we investigated the morphogenesis of the male reproductive structures of Welwitschia mirabilis and Ephedra distachya by SEM and light microscopy. The occurrence of reduced apices to both halves of the antherophores of W. mirabilis gives strong support for the assumption that the male 'flowers' of W. mirabilis represent reduced compound cones. We assume that each half of the antherophore represents a lateral male cone that has lost its subtending bract. Although both halves of the antherophores of Ephedra distachya lack apical meristems, the histological pattern of the developing antherophores supports interpreting them as reduced lateral male cones as well. Therefore, the male sporangiophores of Gnetales represent simple organs with terminal synangia. Although extant conifers do not exhibit terminal synangia, similar sporangiophores are reported for some Cordaitales, the hypothetical sister group of conifers. Moreover, several Paleozoic conifers exhibit male cones with terminal sporangia or synangia. Therefore, we propose that conifers, Cordaitales and Gnetales originated from a common ancestor that displayed simple sporangiophores with a terminal cluster of sporangia.

Famine foods listed in the Chiu huang pen ts'ao, giving their identity, nutritional values and notes on their preparation: The botany of mahuang : common ... fishes of Shanghai (Chinese medicine series)

Average customer rating:

Famine foods listed in the Chiu huang pen ts'ao, giving their identity, nutritional values and notes on their preparation: The botany of mahuang : common ... fishes of Shanghai (Chinese medicine series)
Bernard Emms Read
Manufacturer: Southern Materials Center
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Nutrition | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Gnetales
Pearson
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

The Gnetophytes: Morphology and relationships

Average customer rating:

The Gnetophytes: Morphology and relationships
Barbara Ertter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007C5SWG

Indian conifers, gnetophytes and phylogeny of gymnosperms

Average customer rating:

Indian conifers, gnetophytes and phylogeny of gymnosperms
Pran Nath Mehra
Manufacturer: s.n.]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

On the origin of some angiosperms through the Gnetales and the Coniferae: III. The gynaecium of Salix cinerea, (Det Kgl. danske videnskabernes selskab. Biologiske meddelelser. xiv)

Average customer rating:

On the origin of some angiosperms through the Gnetales and the Coniferae: III. The gynaecium of Salix cinerea, (Det Kgl. danske videnskabernes selskab. Biologiske meddelelser. xiv)
Olaf Hagerup
Manufacturer: Levin & Munksgaard, Ejnar Munksgaard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00086XNDC

On the origin of some angiosperms through the Gnetales and the Coniferae: IV. The gynaecium of Personatae, (Det Kgl. danske videnskabernes selskab. Biologiske meddelelser. xv)

Average customer rating:

On the origin of some angiosperms through the Gnetales and the Coniferae: IV. The gynaecium of Personatae, (Det Kgl. danske videnskabernes selskab. Biologiske meddelelser. xv)
Olaf Hagerup
Manufacturer: Ejnar Munksgaard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00086XWW4

Welwitschia mirabilis: A most remarkable living plant from South West Africa

Average customer rating:

Welwitschia mirabilis: A most remarkable living plant from South West Africa
Chris H Bornman
Manufacturer: National Geographic Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books