Mojave

The Sonoran has always received more interest than its Western sibling. Accordingly, there have long been children's books about the Sonoran Desert, as with "Cactus Hotel." Despite a population of millions of Americans, "Mojave" has long been the only young person's book about the desert. So in addition to this book's artistic merits, Diane Siebert and Wendell Minor's "Mojave" stands as the first nationally available book about the Mojave Desert for young readers. In the book, the desert is itself the narrator. Writing in the first person, the desert discusses her landscape, weather and animals. Through poetry, the reader comes to appreciate the wildness and flavor of the place. "Mojave" is a beautiful work but it has issues. First off, while marketed as a children's book, it has little appeal to young readers. The aesthetics of the book appeal more to mature readers. For example, Minor's illustrations are attractive but they are painted with an abstract and serious timbre that most children will find uninteresting. This is exacerbated when the text and pictures are only loosely related. "Mojave" reads as one long narrative; given the abstract tone, it might have been more effective if illustrations were directly connected with each poem. This is one of those books that few children will voluntarily read but adults will enjoy reading to kids. This isn't necessarily a bad thing since young people often need to be encouraged to appreciate literature that is outside of the popular culture. In the end, there is a strong alternative. While not exclusively about the Mojave, Frank Asch's "Cactus Poems" has enough Mojave related poetry to qualify as a successor. Beyond this, what children's lit really needed first wasn't a poetic book about the Mojave, but an introductory non-fiction title. While Ruth K. A. Devlin's "Desert Seasons: A Year in the Mojave" came closest, it managed to fumble meeting this need. "Mojave" is a beautiful book that was ahead of its time but it also left the door open for additional books about the Mojave for young people.

Mojave by Diane Siebert with beautiful paintings by Wendell Minor is an excellent book. The pair have collaborated on several books including this wonderful expositon on the Mojave Desert. Siebert's words do an excellent job at describing the ecology of the Mojave from the desert's point of view. The young reader will meet the landscapes, the rocks, the animals, the plants, the weather and the sounds of the desert. The paintings, with touches of Georgia O'Keefe and Andrew Wyeth, are simple evocations of the beauty of the desert. I often escape into the Mojave to get focused and I know first hand that the desert is a living, breathing place and not a wasteland. This book is a wonderful way for a young person to introduce themselves to the Mojave.