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STELLAR STORIES: The Night Flower

The Night Flower
By Lara Hawthorne
Big Picture Press, 2019. Informational, pp. 32

The flower of the saguaro cactus is a little more interesting than other flowers. It blooms only once a year, and when it does, the animals take notice. The event is so exciting and unique that even the more unusual pollinators come out to celebrate the feastā€”bats and mice, for example. Because the cactus only blooms once, the animals are careful not to miss it.

Hawthorneā€™s beautifully rendered illustrations of the saguaro cactus and the desert night life accompany enjoyable rhyming text, all of which is there to inform young readers about the unique ecosystems of deserts. The rhyming couplets add a level of fun to the basic info given about the saguaro cactus flowers that makes the information easy to digest and remember. And the pictures breathe life into the dark world of the desert at night, which might surprise people who arenā€™t familiar with that climate. The story of the saguaro cactus flower is an exciting one, and will interest readers who love learning about our planet.

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