The Salamander Room

I can't count the number of times I read this aloud to my usually story-phobic kid. He preferred field guides to narratives, but would always sit still for this lovely, quiet story of a boy who loved salamanders so much he would remodel his room for their comfort. I love this book with all my heart.

In this deceptively simple picture-book, young Brian finds an orange salamander in the woods, and brings him home. Brian's mother wonders how the salamander will live in his room, and a lovely dialogue develops, as Brian describes the many changes he will make, in order to create a habitable environment for his new friend...

The Salamander Room is an excellent little title, ideal for teaching children about the habitat needs of other species, and would probably also function very well as an explanation at to why some species should not be kept as pets. The illustrations have a quiet and luminous quality that is very appealing. I do find it odd that every on-line picture of this title that I come across shows an image in which both Steve show more Johnson and Lou Fancher are credited as illustrators, when my copy simply gives Steven Johnson's name. The title page does mention Fancher, crediting him with the "design" of the book... Very odd.

However that may be, I am happy to have discovered this visually appealing title, suitable for young nature lovers. show less

I loved this book as a child, and I still enjoy it today. The boy, Brian, finds a salamander in the woods and brings it home. He then explains to his mother just how he would create a perfect habitat for the salamander in his room (I'm especially fond of the part about lifting the roof off). This would be an excellent book to teach children about the basics of ecology, and to show them how all living things are interconnected, so that even a small salamander needs an entire forest to survive. The illustrations and prose are charming (who would not want to "sleep on a bed under the stars, with the moon shining through the green leaves of the trees"?) and celebrate a love of nature. Highly recommended!

Excellent! A story that shows how we can teach by asking questions (wondering) with children to help them draw their own conclusions.

This is a cute book for kindergarteners to read. It is about a young boy who finds a salamander and wants to keep it as a pet. Throughout the book, his mom asks him questions about how he will take care of it and it leads to a series of ideas. This book can be used to teach the children about the different ecosystems and what different plants and animals need to survive. You can talk to the students about how all living things need, food, water, and space to live. Students can compare and contrast what they need to live compared to what another animal may meed to live. You can have the students follow along in their notebooks and create a chain of what the different animals and plants will need as Brian tries to make a plan for the show more salamander to survive. You can teach the students how different plants and animals need each other in order to survive. By looking at the chain of items and animals that Brian was going to need just to keep the salamander alive and happy, it shows how everything in nature connects and relies on each other to live. This is a good book to use for young students so they can start to see how things are connected. You can also use this book to show students how Brian's imagination was working based on what he already knew. He was able to imagine turning his room into a habitat for a salamander because he knew what it needed to survive. You can go back and walk through the pictures to emphasize how he continued to add onto his ideas. You can have students do something similar to what Brian did. You can have them choose one animal and have them make a list or a chain of what they think they would need in order to create a good habitat for their animal. This will help them practice making connections. Kindergarten standards: 4, 7(This is one of your books) show less

One of my son's favorite books, this is a beautifully illustrated, imaginative story about a boy who wishes to turn his bedroom into a forest habitat so that he can bring home the salamander that he finds in the forest.

I would use this book for a lesson on visualizing because the story is filled with imagery. The author does a great job of building on ideas with answers to questions the mother poses for a perfect home for his new salamander friend. Children will be able to visualize the perfect home for a wild animal based on their knowledge of habitats.