Book Review: Emily's Day In The Desert By Giselle Shardlow

Author: Giselle Shardlow Illustrator: Vicky Bowes Pgs. 48 Genre: Children's Ages: 4-7 Title: Emily's Day In The Desert: The desert may be a dry, hot, almost barren piece of land, but the cover to Giselle Shardlow's new book "Emily's Day In The Desert" shows a bit different scene in where a child is quite happily demonstrating a yoga pose. Three animals are shown who seem to be interested in what the child is doing. The sun is peeking just behind the mountains. Vegetation lingers, and rocks are scattered about. The colours used to illustrate the cover blend between light, and dark while the majority of colour used is a brown sandy colour. The illustrations are simple in design. The story is set in Death Valley. It begins by mother and daughter standing in the desert with a lesson taught by the mother. The family members venture on to have breakfast together, and meet some animals along the way. The little girl's enthusiasm, and eagerness is quite apparent. Travel is on foot, and by jeep. Emily carries around a journal with her checking things off on her list. With all her heart there is one thing she wishes to see the most! The little girl takes photos to remind her of the adventure. The story wraps up in the evening with the family resting. Emily's Day In The Desert encompasses subjects such as science, geography, movement, visualization, imagination, photography, animals, and air pollution. Yoga poses vary from the Cat Pose to the Pigeon Pose. Kids are able to identify with the characters. It is meant for the 4-7 year old group. Short sentences, and simple language make up the structure. I recommend this book to kids, parents, yoga lovers, teachers, doctors, groups, classrooms, libraries, and music/dance studios. My favourite part of the book is all the diverse animals. They are not your ordinary animals. The book comes with instructions, and a parent-teacher guide. The book is informative, and educational, and has many great themes. Ratings: Cover: 5 Storyline: 5 Illustrations: 5 Unity And Originality: 5