Encyclopedia of Deserts

Rating:
Summary: Best for the Novice
Review: The strength of this book is the number of topics it covers. Its main weakness, though, is the same. By including so many topics, the reader actually learns very little. Even a child doing a class paper on a subject in this book would have to draw upon other resources. The book is best suited for people who have little or no knowledge of deserts. Unfortunately, that means kids. But most kids would never pick this book up since there isn't one colored photograph in the book. Even the black and white photos are not the greatest quality. For its size and price, the book was a disappointment. But then, I live in the desert so maybe I was hoping for something a bit more useful and informative.

Chris Alexander Las Cruces, New Mexico

Rating:
Summary: Deserts are Cool
Review: This book seems to have everything there is about deserts. I learned that deserts have lions, penguins, kangaroos, many spiders, scorpions and other animals, even fish and frogs. There are also many plants, with strange things like cactus and boojum trees. Even elephants live in the desert. I think the book is like an exploring trip from one desert to the other. I wish it had more pictures but it is easy to understand and has great maps. The book helped me write a report on deserts. I got an A. I would like to visit a desert to see what it is like to live there. I never knew deserts would be so interesting. They are too cool.