Through Sand and Salt: A Tale of Discovery Across the Sahara

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

From critically acclaimed artist Elizabeth Zunon comes a picture book about one boy’s journey to deliver salt across the desert—a journey that reveals the true value of this precious mineral.

In the Sahara, salt is worth its weight in gold. When Malik is finally old enough to join his father’s caravan transporting salt along the ancient trade route to Timbuktu, he can’t wait to prove himself worthy of the responsibility.

As the caravan crosses the vast and unforgiving desert, Malik discovers that salt does far more than preserve and flavor food. Essential to trade, ritual, civilization, and even the human body, salt sustains life itself. Along the way, Malik also gains something equally valuable: the confidence to grow from an eager novice into a future leader of the caravan.

This gorgeous, awe-inspiring picture book celebrates the remarkable journey of salt, the connections it forges, and its enduring power to nourish both people and communities.