Cactus Hotel by Brenda Z Guiberson

Cactus Hotel by Brenda Z Guiberson

It is another hot day in the desert. Birds and other animals scurry about looking for food. When they get tired they stop to rest at a giant cactus. It is their hotel in the desert

Many different animals live in the cactus hotel. It protects them; and they protect it, by eating the pests that could harm the cactus.

The cactus grows larger and larger and will live for about two hundred years. When one animal moves out, another moves in. There is never a vacancy in the cactus hotel.

This story--about a desert, a giant cactus, and the animals who live in it--is one that even the youngest child will understand and enjoy.

Parents' Choice Award
IRA-CBC Teachers' Choice
An NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book
An NCTE Notable Trade Book in the Language Arts

Brenda Z. Guiberson has written many books for children, including Cactus Hotel, Spoonbill Swamp, Moon Bear, and Disasters. As a child, Brenda never thought she wanted to be a writer--her dreams tended more toward jungle explorer. She graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in English and Fine Art. She started thinking about writing for children when her son went to elementary school, and she volunteered in his class and in the school library. After taking exciting trips that involved a fifty-foot cactus, hungry alligators, and sunset-colored spoonbills, she wanted to create books for children that would be like a field trip. Her books are full of well-researched detail, and Brenda sees this research as an adventure--one that allows her to be a jungle explorer at last. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Steve Jenkins is the acclaimed illustrator or author/illustrator of numerous books, including The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest, which received the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Nonfiction. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his family.