The Salamander Room

... because I've worn out the paperback reading it to my kids. It is a favorite with my son (now 7). Wonderfully illustrated. Wonderfully imaginative. Get lost in "The Salamander Room" today.

I don't normally read children's books, but this one is wonderful! The story and writing are very moving, the illustrations are beautiful. And the message!!!!! The message is wonderful, about dropping the walls that separate us from the natural world, inviting nature into our lives. I cannot recommend this book too highly.

This story is a sort of little boy's fantasy- taking home a salamander, and making all the necessary accomodations to make it comfortable. He eventually imagines his room full of starry moss and boulders filled with water pools for drinks, buzzing with insects and swooping birds to gobble up the extras, towering with trees, and sprinkled with stars. What wonder of the imagination!My brother was fondly called "Alexander Salamander" when he was little, so it was only appropriate that he--and I--would love this book. We were also mini-naturalists and wild fanatsizers, and this was a perfect way to let our imaginations jump one last time before the book, and the night, ended sleepily and peacefully.

This is a simple story of a child who finds, beneath the leaves, a bright & lively creature & brings him home where his mother asks him how he'll take care of his newfound friend.If a picture tells a thousand words then Steve Johnson's speak volumes. Vivid, compelling & so very magical & real, Brian's adventures & dreams fill the pages with the familiar & the whimsical. I loved the bed Brian made for his friend in his nightstand drawer & the moon & stars on his headboard. Unloading leaves with his dump truck & when the salamander peeks out of Brian's bedroom window, oh, you know you've seen that kind of energy, exhileration & anticipation! A wonderful book of heartwarming visions with a simple, important story to tell about the responsibility & fun of bringing home wild creatures.

I love how the mother and child in this story interact. When the child wants to keep the salamander he found, the mother (instead of saying "no" or lecturing him about why we don't take creatures out of their natural habitat) asks him questions that require the child to think about what the salamander needs to sleep, eat, play and more. Step by step the boy imagines how he could meet the salamander's needs, yet still keep it in his room, which is now quickly turning into a woodland paradise for his new friend. This is a wonderful story for all children - especially for the ones who desire to bring home live "treasures" from nature to keep in their room!