Desert Surprise Series

Photo by Emily York

If Sarah went walking in the desert today the hedgehog cactus would look like this.

The staghorn cholla would look like this.

The purple prickly pear would be in bloom.

The prickly pear blossom looks like this.

The saguaro has buds but no blossoms yet.  Maybe tomorrow it will pop.

Can you find these cacti in the book, “Sarah’s Desert Surprise”?

photos taken by Emily York

“T.J.’s Desert Surprise” is written by Emily York and is in the process of being illustrated by Mary Stokrocki. 

The surprises in this book involve facts about snakes, lizards, geckos, and other creatures of the Sonoran Desert. 

Readers will have to wait for the last page of this engaging book to learn about T.J.’s biggest surprise.

Like the other books in this series, “T.J.’s Desert Surprise,” is written for elementary school age children but it is also effective as a read-a-loud for younger children. 

It includes discussion questions to involve the reader in study of the ecology of the desert. The impressionistic art will inspire children to illustrate their own books. The book even has directions for making a movable snake puppet. 

Keep watching this site for more information about this series of books.

Emily York, author and Mary Stokrocki, illustrator of the “Desert Surprise Series Books” are artists of the month at the Mountainbrook Village Library in Gold Canyon, AZ.  Original art work for the illustrations for “Sarah’s Desert Surprise” are featured in the display and two books, “Lindsey’s Desert Surprise” and “Sarah’s Desert Surprise” are on display.    

Each month a different artist is displayed in the library and are featured in the Mountainbrook Mountaineer newspaper.

After reading “Sarah’s Desert Surprise“, Sarah was inspired to draw this picture for the web site.

We have added a couple of new pages to our site. They can be found at the top of the screen and links are on the left side of the screen.

The first page Site Links is simply a page of links to all the information on our site.

We are very excited about the second page Visitor Comments. This page contains the various comments we’ve received from YOU when you have visited our site. Thank you for making this a more interactive site and sharing your thoughts with us.

We love hearing from you.

In this second book of the Desert Surprise Series, Sarah and her Grandmother hike in the Superstition Mountain foothills looking for a dancing cactus.  Do they find one?  Read this informative book about the cacti of the Sonoran desert while learning surprising facts about the cacti.  Maybe you will find the dancing cactus that Sarah is looking for.  Have fun looking.

INTRODUCTION

  This Book is written and illustrated to stimulate the child’s imagination and to foster a love of nature.  The child will find many hidden images in the impressionistic illustrations and will learn about the cacti in the Sonoran Desert while enjoying a story about a visit with Grandma.  To personalize the story, Sarah’s name is printed in italics so that any child’s name can be substituted, making the child feel a real part of the story.  At the end of the book are suggested discussion starters.  A page of photographs, taken by the author, is provided for the child to match realistic cacti illustrations with the artistic illustrations in the book.  It is the hope of the author and the illustrator that both the reader and the listener will see the world of nature in a new and exciting way through this second story in the Desert Surprise Series

This book and “Lindsey’s Desert Surprise” can be purchased from EYE Exceptionals, 2851 Century Harbor Dr., Middleton, WI.  53562  See “Buy Lindsey’s Desert Surprise with Pay Pal.”

One of the unique feathers of the Desert Surprise Series books is the discussion questions at the end of each book.    These questions expand the information in each book and help make the reading of the books an interactive experience for both the reader and the listener.

Here are a few of the questions from “Sarah’s Desert Surprise”.

What surprised Sarah about the desert?

What was your biggest surprise?

Can you name the cacti in the illustrations?

Do the illustrations look the same as the photographs of the cactus?

Why do you think the illustrator drew them the way she did?

Watch here for a sneak peek of the 2nd book in the Desert Surprise Series and how to get your own copy for only $12.95 + s/h.

A note from the author, Emily A. York.

While I spend 4 months in Arizona at the foothills of the Superstition Mountains I spend the rest of the year in Wisconsin.

One of the most interesting happenings in the Wisconsin Fall is the harvesting of cranberries.  I have just spent a few days at a cranberry bog where my son and his wife live.  Someday I will have to write a story about this colorful and interesting event.  Perhaps it will be “Bella’s Cranberry Bog Surprise.”

If your curriculum contains a unit on deserts check out this web site.  The books in the Desert Surprise Series are a unique combination of an easy to read  story for elementary school children and accurate information on desert life.  To make your planning easier each book has discussion questions at the end of the story.  These questions lead into lessons about; the ecology of the desert, the animals that inhabit the desert, the cacti of the desert.

These books can also be used to study art appreciation and artistic techniques.  The illustrator is a Professor of Art Education and her illustrations offer an impressionistic view of the desert.  The series books have discussion questions to encourage the reader to analyze and intemperate the art.  When art classes are being cut from curriculums across the country here is a way to integrate art appreciation into a reading or nature study lesson.