STORM ON THE DESERT

Lesser (Dig Hole, Soft Mole, 1996, etc.) uses poetic prose and vivid language to give splendor and life to a natural event. Rich in detail and carefully paced, the drama takes place in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, where the first whispers of a desert storm arrive on a scorching wind, followed by a full fury as ""bony fingers of lightning strike, strike,"" and then by the hush of the sunset breeze in the cooling desert stillness. A wealth of desert creatures and plants are included in the text and illustrations: snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, elf owls, tortoises, coyotes, mule deer, jack rabbits, woodpeckers, as well as saguaro cacti, creosote bush, rattlesnake weed, and angel trumpets. Rand works in chalk, pastel, pencil, and watercolor, capturing nature with a masterful economy of line. The fluid watercolors are particularly evocative in displays of wind and driving rain.