Desert Song

K-Gr 3–Written in lyrical free verse, this book describes how a family comes together in the evenings to make music. The music incorporates the natural sounds of the desert, including the animals and the wind, as well as the sounds the family makes with instruments, hands, and voices. Even the weather seems to be in service to the concert by sending lightning as a spotlight and rain on the roof as applause. The music connects this family not only to the desert, but to their ancestors, who taught family members to play and to celebrate the desert and its myriad characteristics. Every person is valued for their part to be played: an uncle taps out a beat on his dusty jeans, little sister plays maracas, mama sings, grandma plays guitar. Glorious, intensely colored artwork feels folkloric and echoes the wide expansiveness of the open landscape and the joy of sharing music with family—and with the rest the world.