Saguaro cactus

Today is Thursday, and that means it's story time at the Library. We have been going to the library since she was about 4 or 5 months old. Today the theme was the desert and I was excited because I recently checked out a book about a Saguaro cactus. Not quite her favorite because it is a chapter book, but I was surprised to see how much we have gotten through. The librarian asked the kids if anyone had ever seen a cactus, and Jelly Belly happily replied, "Me!" So today we checked this book out (among many others) and decided to read it during our picnic lunch on my empty dining room.
She seemed to enjoy it! We learned about coyotes, rattlesnakes, roadrunners and pack rats and of course our Saguaro cactus. Here is pic of the one in our front yard, and I did regret my great idea to go out in this Arizona heat in the middle of the day. It is hot today!

Picture taken by Isabella:

While searching for the image of the book, The Seed and the Giant Saguaro, I found some info about the author and some great teaching tools. I did not try the discussion guide yet but I will next time we read the book. Curious to see how she responds, it may be geared towards older kids.
http://www.jenniferwardbooks.com/Teachers.html