Four young coyotes harass the animals in a desert canyon until they run into a rattlesnake.

Elephant was shouting and stomping. But could he stomp a hole deep enough to reach water for the thirsty animals? Maybe ... maybe not. All the animals tried until tiny Gecko took a turn. He was small ... but he was determined. And he was not going to give up!

The rhyming text follows a lone tumbleweed in its journey across a desert teeming with life.

"Cast out of his coalition, Stride the cheetah embarks on a perilous mission for the Great Parent, accompanied by a honey badger burdened with a dark and mysterious past. Whisper the water buffalo has been searching desperately for her brother Echo, presumed dead after a terrible fall. And the hyena now known as Breathstealer finds herself courted by the Great Spirit at one moment and other times tempted by the Great Devourer...The balance of power...