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THE SALAMANDER ROOM Brings Ecology Home

1/30/2012

2 Comments

 
To learn which books a child loves most, you could inquire. But the evidence can often be seen in the books themselves. Through devoted rereading, the corners of a child's most beloved books become soft and frayed; cracks form along their fragile spines, and pages must be taped to repair tears incurred from enthusiastic turning. The Salamander Room (Dragonfly Books, 1991), written by Anne Mazer and illustrated by Steve Johnson, was among the first books my son singled out for this kind of tough love.
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The Salamander Room begins when Brian, a boy of about five, finds a fiery orange salamander on the forest floor. Smitten, he brings the animal home. Most of the story is told through dialogue. Brian’s mother—who, admirably, shows no sign of squeamishness at this new arrival—poses guiding questions that encourage the boy to consider what a salamander needs to be at home. The boy’s expressive replies reveal the power of a child’s imagination.

Author Anne Mazer captures the expansive enthusiasm of a small child, yet keeps his ideas grounded in ecology. As a result, this charming story is also an effective educational tool. Through Brian, we learn about the salamander's needs for survival (food, water, shelter, appropriate temperature, etc.), its place on a food web within a temperate forest habitat, and even hear about the components required for photosynthesis. These messages come through without being weighed down by scientific terminology that would confuse and distract young readers. Also integral to the story is an ethical question that will spark the thinking of older kids: Should wild animals be kept as pets?

Steve Johnson, a native Minnesotan who studied at St. Paul's School of Associated Arts, provides illustrations that almost seem to come alive on the page. If that description sounds trite, consider this progression of events. The first two-page spread depicts Brian as he discovers the salamander under a pile of autumn-dry leaves. Here, the art is tidily framed by a white border. When the boy returns home and begins answering his mother’s questions, the illustrations become less contained. At first the changes are small—just a few leaves hanging over the edge of a frame here, a salamander's tail dangling there. Within a few pages, however, a multitude of creatures are creeping and fluttering around the text. Eventually an entire forest—complete with mature trees and a lily pad-studded pond—spills across the pages. The transition is so complete that Brian's dialogue must float atop foliage, tree trunks, and a luminous sky.

Mazer offers no grand moral to wrap up the package. Brian and the salamander simply fall asleep, side-by-side in a starlit forest. We understand, without being told so, that this is the salamander's "room.” It’s equally clear that Brian can imagine loving the forest like his own home.

While adults may recognize elements of magical realism in The Salamander Room, young children might reply that reality is magical. Until they are taught otherwise, children often don’t lay boundaries between humanity and the natural or metaphysical worlds. They value stories that show this perspective, and will return to them again and again. With that in mind, expect your copy of The Salamander Room to become ragged with use. Not to worry. As we learned from the Velveteen Rabbit, this only proves that it is Real.


Young readers may be inspired, as I was, to find the many animals Steve Johnson has hidden in the pages of The Salamander Room. In addition to three salamander species (possibly the mud salamander, spotted salamander, and red-lined salamander), this "habitat" includes a multitide of insects, spiders, and songbirds. Children who live east of the Rocky Mountains will recognize some of these creatures from their own backyards and local parks. Less familiar species can be identified using a magnifying glass and a field guide.

I’ve included a partial list below. Can you locate these animals? What can you add to the list?
  • Northern cardinal
  • American goldfinch
  • Eastern bluebird
  • tree swallow
  • black-capped chickadee
  • painted bunting
  • vermillion flycatcher
  • monarch butterfly
  • Eastern swallowtail butterfly
  • woolly bear caterpillar
  • red skimmer dragonfly

2 Comments
Terry F Erickson
2/2/2012 10:35:39 am

Really enjoyed reading your post. There certainly is a disconnect between children and nature. I remember taking my class to our school prairie to look for insects. You would have thought these poor children were being tortured to hear their constant cries of "yuck" "ish" "gross" "oww" "get away from be bug" "let's get out of here" etc etc. Thanks.

Reply
Christine
2/2/2012 10:00:10 pm

Thanks for reading, Terry, and for sharing your experience. As you point out, even in our suburban districts kids often don't get enough exposure to nature. I'd guess that, in part, what you observed is also related to age. I've observed that many children go through stages with regard to their enthusiasm toward nature. Young children tend to be all or nothing--very curious and engaged or very fearful. By the middle grades, many children--even those who exhibited a love of nature in earlier years--show that kind of squeamishness you describe, or simply act bored. I would say that at this age, their focus is weighted toward social interactions and a crowd mentality. They may holler "yuck!" just because everyone else does. But if we give them enough relevant experiences and ideas to consider, by late adolescence, kids may come back to a love of nature--especially through advocacy. Some of those kids who hollered "yuck!" will go on to love hiking; some will find they love to garden; some will become scientists or policymakers that affect our future.

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    About Naturelit

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    Christine Petersen

    Christine Petersen is a critically acclaimed author of more than 70 nonfiction books for children and young adults. As a former bat biologist and middle school science teacher, she is especially interested in natural, earth, and environmental science themes.

    Christine is a contributor to  Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, Odyssey, Bay Nature and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Her book Preserving the Living Earth (Benchmark Books) was short-listed for the 2012 Green Earth Book Award. Other works have been listed
    by the Junior Library Guild, selected for use in curriculum by the U.S. Department of Energy, and named by Booklist Online and Science Books & Films (a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science) as "Best Books" or "Best Series" for children and young adults.

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