Far beneath the southwestern desert, a mother kangaroo rat lay curled in her nest. Beside her slept her tiny babies. Suddenly she heard a rumbling sound from the ground above. It was a badger, digging furiously at the entrance to the burrow. The mother kangaroo rat had only time to grab one of her young and run for safety.

In the time that follows the young kangaroo rat imitates his mother, learning when and how to feed from the land, how to gather food for storage and how to build a burrow. Most important, he learns how to protect himself against the many dangers of the desert.

Barbara Steiner's simple and informative text and Linda Powell's detailed illustrations expertly portray the life cycle of the kangaroo rat.

From the dust jacket