Deserts can be big, dry and full of surprises. Let's start with what a desert is. A desert is a dry place. It gets very little rain. The Sahara in Africa is a giant desert. It is almost as big as the whole United States.

The Atacama Desert is in Chile. It is one of the driest places on Earth. As of November 2026, it is the driest desert outside the icy poles. You may think every desert is hot. Some are. Others have cold winters or are cold all year. As of November 2026, the largest desert in the world is Antarctica. It is a cold desert of ice.

Plants and animals live in deserts too. Let's meet two. A saguaro cactus can grow 40 feet tall or taller. It is mostly water. The Gila monster is a venomous lizard. It lives in the deserts of the American Southwest and northwestern Mexico.

Now meet a small animal. The fennec fox is the smallest fox in the world. It lives in the Sahara and other parts of North Africa. It has very big ears. It has furry feet too. The furry feet protect it from hot sand.

A kangaroo rat does not need to drink. It gets its water from the seeds it eats. You may have heard that a camel's hump holds water. In fact, a camel's hump is made of fat, not water. People use camels to carry loads across the desert.

In the desert heat, drink plenty of water. Stay in the shade during the hottest part of the day. Here is one last thing to wonder at. It is a surprise. After a big rain, flowers can bloom in the desert.

Words to know

• Antarctica: a frozen continent
• venomous: having poison
• saguaro: a tall cactus
• Atacama: Chile's desert