Selected for the 2025 Bologna Ragazzi Award's Amazing Bookshelf: Sustainability Category

In spectacular and astonishing collage detail, Jeannie Baker captures the deep beauty, mystery, and hidden vitality of the desert landscape – and why it needs our protection.

Chico’s grandpa has taken him on holiday where he grew up as a child, out in the desert. Chico has no interest in exploring the land – the desert jungle frightens him, and he’d much rather play on his his tablet. Grandpa decides that it is time to show Chico the secrets and the wonders that the desert has to offer so that he will not fear it but, instead, welcome it, embrace it and help protect it. Grandpa shows Chico paths through the cactus and the scrub, teaches Chico the plants' names – ocotillo, cholla, cirios, pin cushion, fishhook – and, soon, Chico begins to understand the wonders of the wild. He learns the value of watching, waiting and listening for all the life that hums within his desert home.

"This is a powerful book to educate the young about a productive area which could be named a ‘desert jungle.’ For grandparents, teachers and librarians, this is an excellent story to share with young students who will likely not have heard of this particular region. The artwork and photographs are striking and provide lots of subjects to discuss: geography, history, nature, relationships with family, walking and tablets!" - Books for Keeps

"A lovely story, incorporating the importance of nature and how it needs protecting." - The School Librarian