Sand Swimmers: The Secret Life of Australia's Desert Wilderness

Narelle Oliver weaves a sophisticated and fascinating story of the secret life of Australia's desert wilderness. The illustrations are gorgeous - reminiscent both of woodcuts and the work of Joyce Sidman. The language is poetic, with strong rhythms, and tells a detailed story of a harsh and fascinating area of the world. "In the center of Australia lies a strange desert wilderness"...then some powerful description, a page turn and "It has not always been like this." Oliver takes the reader back in time to the Miocene, when the center of Australia was a great inland sea full of remarkable animals. We follow the changes as the land dried and then follow the journey of a European explorer convinced there was still an inland sea. The fascinating juxtaposition of the historic European perspective and the modern and aboriginal understanding of the rich adaptations of life is provocative. Drawings and maps of explorer Charles Sturt's journey run along the bottom of pages accompanied by evocative quotes taken from his journal. The top two thirds of the page are filed with detailed nature studies where readers try to find the camouflaged animals and consult the keys, boxes and sidebars to learn more about the improbable and fascinating creatures. An extensive bibliography, index of animals with Latin names, an author's note on her journey to central Australia and photographs of some of the more intriguing animals rounds out the book. The mix of animals, from thorny devils to adorable big eyed, fat tailed, mouse-like marsupials,gives the book broad appeal for animals lovers or kids with an interest in explores, extreme environments or science.

The book explains information about Australia’s desert and the plants and animals you can find. It’s a fun book to read because you get to follow with explorer Charles Sturt to learn about the desert and surprises he uncovered.Other kids will enjoy the book because on some pages you get to play eye-spy and find insects and animals in a specific habitat. It was fun to have my parents try to pronounce some of the animal and plant names.The book has many interesting aspects – like the great illustrations and amazing stories about the ways that life survives in the desert. At first I thought the book was going to be boring and more for adults. But there’s really fun information, lots of things to learn about on each page, and great pictures. There are also maps on a few pages that show certain areas in Australia where you might find unseen animals and their shelter.There are gross-looking animals that I’ve never seen before. I never knew there was so much life living in the desert. It’s the first time I’ve learned about salt oceans in the desert. That’s what makes the book really interesting, learning about all of the cool life and landscapes in Australia.Charlotte P., age 7, Northern Colorado Mensa