AUTHOR VISIT at ESPERANZA SCHOOL, Los Angeles, CA

Welcome sign in Mrs. Oasay's 4th Grade Class at Esperanza School

A week ago I had a terrific visit at Esperanza Elementary School in Los Angeles, California, with two groups of Mrs. Williams students in the library (3rd and 4th grades) and with Mrs. Oasay's 4th grade students in their classroom. I could tell that the students enjoyed meeting a "real live author" and I was glad to hear what they have been learning from reading my books. Each group had been reading one of my recent books in advance of my visit. Mrs. Williams' third graders had read Watching Desert Wildlife and the fourth graders had read Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines.

With teacher Elizabeth Williams in the library. A life-size cutout of P-22 peeks out behind us.

Mrs. Williams also shared the students' pollinators books that they are working on as they learn in the school's natural habitat garden. What a great project!

A book made by one of the students about plant pollinators

She also showed me the story boards the students made for P-22 Day. (P-22 is a mountain lion that lives in the Santa Monica Mountains.) I loved the illustrations and what they wrote. They had presented their story at the P-22 Day in Griffith Park in October.

With Mrs. Oasay in her classroom

Mrs. Oasay's class was a very enthusiastic audience and had a lot to share about what they were learning in my book Too Hot? Too Cold?. I loved their own Too Hot? Too Cold? books, done backwards and forwards.

My book Too Hot? Too Cold? and one of the student's books with facts about animal adaptations for keeping warm and keeping cool.

The board in front of Mrs. Oasay's room was filled with questions the students had prepared to ask me. They were great questions, ranging from "What inspired you to write about animals?" to "Did you have any challenges as a kid?" I didn't have time to answer all of them, but we had a great conversation.
I thank super Principal Brad Rumble for arranging my visit and making it possible.  During my visit, Assistant Principal Mrs. Lexus Lee took good care of me and made sure everything ran smoothly.

WATCHING DESERT WILDLIFE, Now Available as a Kindle Book

WATCHING DESERT WILDLIFE is now available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle. It was originally published by Carolrhoda Books in 1994 and is out of print. The cover has been redesigned and the text and photos inside the book have been updated. WATCHING DESERT WILDLIFE is illustrated with photos taken by my husband, Arthur Arnold, taken on many visits to the deserts of California and Arizona as well as to the high deserts in the Great Basin, where we had the opportunity to observe the richness of desert life up close. I am happy to have WATCHING DESERT WILDLIFE now available to new readers as an e-book. You can read it with a Kindle app on various devices (I use my iPad) or on your computer.

After a sudden spring rain, the flowers of a giant saguaro cactus bloom. Beneath the hot sun, a lizard flicks its tail and dashes for the shade of an overhanging ledge. Although the desert may seem to be a barren and lifeless place, it is full of plants and animals that have adapted to its harsh environment. In this updated edition of Watching Desert Wildlife, readers go on a guided tour of desert life and explore the fascinating ways in which plant and animals have come to survive in some of North America's driest and hottest places.