Kaysie
Site Contributor
The Salamander Room - by Anne Mazer, Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.
Since this book is so short and the story so poignant, I decided to post it in its entirety.
Brian found a salamander in the woods. It was a little orange salamander [Pseudotriton ruber from the pictures] that crawled through the dried leaves of the forest floor.
The salamander was warm and cozy in the boy’s hand. “Come live with me,” Brian said.
He took the salamander home.
“Where will he sleep?” his mother asked.
“I will make him a salamander bed to sleep in. I will cover him with leaves that are fresh and green and bring moss that looks like little stars to be a pillow for his head. I will bring him crickets to sing him to sleep and bullfrogs to tell him good-night stories.”
“And when he wakes up, where will he play?”
“I will carpet my room with shiny wet leaves and water them so he can slide around and play. I will bring tree stumps into my room so he can climb up the bark and sun himself on top. And I will bring boulders that he can creep over.”
“He will miss his friends in the forest.”
“I will bring salamander friends to play with him [Ambystoma maculatum].”
“They will be hungry. How will you feed them?”
“I will bring insects to live in my room. And every day I will catch some and feed the salamanders. And I will make little pools of water on top of the boulders so they can drink whenever they are thirsty.”
“The insects will multiply, and soon there will be bugs and insects everywhere.”
“I will find birds to eat the extra bugs and insects. And the bullfrogs will eat them too.”
“Where will the birds and bullfrogs live?”
“I will bring trees for the birds to roost in, and make ponds for the frogs.”
“Birds need to fly.”
“We can lift off the ceiling. They will sail out in the sky, but they will come back to my room when it is time for dinner, because they will know that the biggest, juiciest insects are there.”
“But the trees – how will they grow?”
“The rain will come through the open roof, and the sun, too. And vines will creep up the walls of my room, and ferns will grow under my bed. There will be big white mushrooms and moss like little stars growing around the tree stumps that the salamanders climb on.”
“And you – where will you sleep?”
“I will sleep on a bed under the stars, with the moon shining through the green leaves of the trees; owls will hoot and crickets will sing; and next to me, on the boulder with its head resting on soft moss, the salamander will sleep.”
The illustrations in this book are absolutely spectacular. I am saddened I can't post pictures of them right now. I REALLY suggest this book to anyone with children. It's fairly scientifically accurate, and it does help create a sense of what goes into keeping a salamander as a pet, not just a 'newt in a fishbowl'.
Since this book is so short and the story so poignant, I decided to post it in its entirety.
Brian found a salamander in the woods. It was a little orange salamander [Pseudotriton ruber from the pictures] that crawled through the dried leaves of the forest floor.
The salamander was warm and cozy in the boy’s hand. “Come live with me,” Brian said.
He took the salamander home.
“Where will he sleep?” his mother asked.
“I will make him a salamander bed to sleep in. I will cover him with leaves that are fresh and green and bring moss that looks like little stars to be a pillow for his head. I will bring him crickets to sing him to sleep and bullfrogs to tell him good-night stories.”
“And when he wakes up, where will he play?”
“I will carpet my room with shiny wet leaves and water them so he can slide around and play. I will bring tree stumps into my room so he can climb up the bark and sun himself on top. And I will bring boulders that he can creep over.”
“He will miss his friends in the forest.”
“I will bring salamander friends to play with him [Ambystoma maculatum].”
“They will be hungry. How will you feed them?”
“I will bring insects to live in my room. And every day I will catch some and feed the salamanders. And I will make little pools of water on top of the boulders so they can drink whenever they are thirsty.”
“The insects will multiply, and soon there will be bugs and insects everywhere.”
“I will find birds to eat the extra bugs and insects. And the bullfrogs will eat them too.”
“Where will the birds and bullfrogs live?”
“I will bring trees for the birds to roost in, and make ponds for the frogs.”
“Birds need to fly.”
“We can lift off the ceiling. They will sail out in the sky, but they will come back to my room when it is time for dinner, because they will know that the biggest, juiciest insects are there.”
“But the trees – how will they grow?”
“The rain will come through the open roof, and the sun, too. And vines will creep up the walls of my room, and ferns will grow under my bed. There will be big white mushrooms and moss like little stars growing around the tree stumps that the salamanders climb on.”
“And you – where will you sleep?”
“I will sleep on a bed under the stars, with the moon shining through the green leaves of the trees; owls will hoot and crickets will sing; and next to me, on the boulder with its head resting on soft moss, the salamander will sleep.”
The illustrations in this book are absolutely spectacular. I am saddened I can't post pictures of them right now. I REALLY suggest this book to anyone with children. It's fairly scientifically accurate, and it does help create a sense of what goes into keeping a salamander as a pet, not just a 'newt in a fishbowl'.
