Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad's Tale

The desert Southwest
is full of sounds.

Skitter, skitter, scratch.
A scorpion is crawling.
Pop, pop, pop.
kangaroo rat is hopping.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
A rattlesnake is
shaking its tail.

But the spadefoot toad
is quiet in her
underground burrow,
listening for one sound
in particular...
What is that sound?
And what will the
spadefoot toad do
when she hears it?

April Pulley Sayre is the award-winning creator of numerous books for children, including the acclaimed Raindrops Roll, Best in Snow, and Full of Fall. She has traveled to many places to observe, investigate, and photograph the world. The stunning photographs in Cityscape illuminate basic concepts of art, science, design, engineering, math, construction, and language arts for budding engineers, artists, architects, construction workers, and poets alike! April Pulley Sayre lives in South Bend, Indiana. You can visit her online at www.aprilsayre.com.

Jacket photography © 2018 by April Pulley Sayre

Barbara Bash is pictured here with the spadefoot toad that lived in her studio while she worked on this book. The artist has written and illustrated a number of award-winning books on natural topics, including Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus. She lives with her husband and son in the Hudson Valley of New York.