Desert Baths

Watch the vulture bask in the morning sun, the roadrunner kicks up a cloud of dust, the javelina wallow, and the bobcat give her cub a licking with a rough tongue in Desert Baths. As the sun and moon travel across the sky, learn how twelve different desert animals face the difficulties of staying clean in a dry and parched land. Explore the desert habitat through its animals and their habits of hygiene. Told in lyrical prose, this story is a celebration of the desert lands of the American Southwest.  


This nonfiction picture book with a cuddle factor includes a 6-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 52-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Desert Baths is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.


National Science Teachers Association / Children’s Book Council Outstanding Science Trade book award winner

Editors’ Choice Library Media Connection


Educator Keywords: climate, desert habitat, time of day, sun pattern, hygiene, adaptations, life science, earth science, STEM activity