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Where is/are...?
Where Is the Sahara Desert?
Ten-story-high sand dunes, eye-tricking mirages, unlucky explorers - it's all here and more in this newest Where Is? book.
From the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series comes Where Is?, a series that tells the stories of world-famous landmarks and natural wonders and features a fold-out map!
Imagine over three million square miles of sand dunes that are as tall as a ten-story building. That place is real -- it's the Sahara Desert! Vast, yes! And home to fascinating creatures such as ostriches and fennec foxes as well as amazing plant life. The shallow roots of the mesquite tree can grow almost 200 feet across to absorb water. Readers will also learn about the famous trade routes of the past with caravans of up to 10,000 camels, European explorers to the region (some very unlucky ones), and native populations like the Berber and Tuareg, the faces of the men are blue from the dye in the veils they always wear.
From the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series comes Where Is?, a series that tells the stories of world-famous landmarks and natural wonders and features a fold-out map!
Imagine over three million square miles of sand dunes that are as tall as a ten-story building. That place is real -- it's the Sahara Desert! Vast, yes! And home to fascinating creatures such as ostriches and fennec foxes as well as amazing plant life. The shallow roots of the mesquite tree can grow almost 200 feet across to absorb water. Readers will also learn about the famous trade routes of the past with caravans of up to 10,000 camels, European explorers to the region (some very unlucky ones), and native populations like the Berber and Tuareg, the faces of the men are blue from the dye in the veils they always wear.
- GenresNonfictionAfrica
112 pages, Hardcover
Published June 6, 2023
10 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 29, 2023
1. The ancient Egyptians invented many things that we still use today, including ways to construct buildings and irrigate land, paper and ink, clocks, the toothbrush and toothpaste, and even breath mints.
2. The Egyptians called the barren desert the “red land.”
3. Scientists have discovered that deep within the dune is a very hard layer of sand. The sound that bounces off this layer is louder. These singing sand dunes can be heard in the Sahara, Mojave, and Gobi Deserts. When explorer Marco Polo heard the singing sand as he crossed the Gobi, he believed the sounds were the voices of mysterious spirits.
4. THE ARABIAN: This desert makes up almost all of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East. The world’s largest area of unbroken sand is found in this desert, and it also has places known for dangerous quicksand.
5. An oasis is a place in a desert where water comes up to the surface from deep underground. It is almost like a reverse island.
6. One of the most famous acacia trees in the Sahara Desert was the Tree of Ténéré. For hundreds of years, it was the only tree for 250 miles in Niger’s area of the Sahara. It was one of the only visible landmarks in that great stretch of sand. Almost all maps of the area showed the tree. Because the tree had survived so long, many people considered it sacred.
7. Over the past 650,000 years, the climate on our planet has gone through seven ice ages and warming periods.
8. Farmers are letting their animals graze in the same area too often and too long. This practice, called overgrazing, makes it difficult for plants to grow back.
9. The program was so successful that the UN created the Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification, which ran from January 2010 to December 2020.
10. So if you do get a chance to visit the Sahara Desert, you should be an ecotourist. As an ecotourist, you are mindful about the environment, and the plants, animals, and people that live there.
2. The Egyptians called the barren desert the “red land.”
3. Scientists have discovered that deep within the dune is a very hard layer of sand. The sound that bounces off this layer is louder. These singing sand dunes can be heard in the Sahara, Mojave, and Gobi Deserts. When explorer Marco Polo heard the singing sand as he crossed the Gobi, he believed the sounds were the voices of mysterious spirits.
4. THE ARABIAN: This desert makes up almost all of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East. The world’s largest area of unbroken sand is found in this desert, and it also has places known for dangerous quicksand.
5. An oasis is a place in a desert where water comes up to the surface from deep underground. It is almost like a reverse island.
6. One of the most famous acacia trees in the Sahara Desert was the Tree of Ténéré. For hundreds of years, it was the only tree for 250 miles in Niger’s area of the Sahara. It was one of the only visible landmarks in that great stretch of sand. Almost all maps of the area showed the tree. Because the tree had survived so long, many people considered it sacred.
7. Over the past 650,000 years, the climate on our planet has gone through seven ice ages and warming periods.
8. Farmers are letting their animals graze in the same area too often and too long. This practice, called overgrazing, makes it difficult for plants to grow back.
9. The program was so successful that the UN created the Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification, which ran from January 2010 to December 2020.
10. So if you do get a chance to visit the Sahara Desert, you should be an ecotourist. As an ecotourist, you are mindful about the environment, and the plants, animals, and people that live there.
February 24, 2025
Sadly, this is another Who HQ! book that I cannot recommend. It spends awhile hypothesizing about just how many “millions” of years old the Sahara Desert is. I do not agree that it is even one million years old. As a Christian, I believe that the world is significantly younger than that- around 6,000 years makes a lot more sense and aligns with geography, history, and the 100% accurate historical content in the Bible. If the author was a Christian, the content of this book would be far more accurate and less about out there predictions. There’s also a section of this book about Islam- something I’d never guess based on how this book is reportedly supposed to be about the Sahara Desert. Titles can be deceiving and this book has a clear agenda that also includes information about climate change, another false/ fictional addition. It’s amazing how much of the author’s bias is shown in this short children’s book. :/
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2023
"The Sahara covers a total of about 3.5 million square miles. That’s approximately the same size..."
"The Sahara covers a total of about 3.5 million square miles. That’s approximately the same size as the United States."
This quick read is a wonderful book about the Sahara Desert, it covers theories on the age of the desert and how it formed, the Oasis within the desert, what grows there and how they survive, the animals of the desert, and the people who have called it how... as well as how the caravans and trade routes through the desert have operated.
With some really nice side bars about things like camels, this book is packed full of interesting information, presented in a flowing and fun way.
"The Sahara covers a total of about 3.5 million square miles. That’s approximately the same size as the United States."
This quick read is a wonderful book about the Sahara Desert, it covers theories on the age of the desert and how it formed, the Oasis within the desert, what grows there and how they survive, the animals of the desert, and the people who have called it how... as well as how the caravans and trade routes through the desert have operated.
With some really nice side bars about things like camels, this book is packed full of interesting information, presented in a flowing and fun way.
July 31, 2023
This book was so good with a lot of information about the Sahara desert. The cover illustration is extremely cute. Until I read this book I did not know that the Nile flows through the Sahara. Loved it.
September 18, 2023
I love this series.
March 21, 2024
it was great
November 14, 2024
Wow! So much history of an area that I thought was a wasteland.
July 26, 2023
Nice blend of ecological information and history
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews