November 19, 1999
Web posted at: 1:14 p.m. EST (1814 GMT)

	GALLERY
Take a tour of the desert (Photos from the book "Desert" courtesy Abrams)

(CNN) -- Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jack Dykinga has teamed up with naturalist and writer Janice Emily Bowers to tell the story of the smallest U.S. desert in their new book, "Desert: The Mojave and Death Valley."

Published by Abrams, the book features 80 photographs by Dykinga and text by Bowers. Its release coincides with the fifth anniversary of the Desert Protection Act.

Bowers and Dykinga are both familiar with the desert terrain. She lives in the Sonoran Desert near Tucson, while he lives in Tucson near the Sonoran desert.

"Our job ... is to show you why we love the Mojave Desert, and why you might love it too," Bowers writes.

The Mojave Desert is surrounded by California, Nevada and Arizona and is spread over 35,000 square miles with Death Valley within its borders. Of the four deserts in the United States, it is the smallest.

Dykinga photographed the harsh terrain following the El Niño rains which came during the winter of 1997 and the spring of 1998. Those rains caused the desert to bloom with color.

The authors say their coffee table format book presents the Mojave desert as few have seen it before.