Salamander Dream

Bibliographic Info

Title: Salamander Dream

Author: Hope Larson

Publisher: Adhouse Books

Publication Date: 2005

ISBN: 978-0972179492

Plot Summary

Hailey, age eight, used to swim, listen to stories, and dream in the woods with Salamander.  As she grew up and made friends, she began to see him less, but once in a while she would find him in quiet moments in the forest.  Before she was about to move away for college, she found him one more time.  This time, she told him a story and she left him sleeping in a meadow.  She never went back.

Critical Evaluation

Salamander Dreams is a beautiful story about carefree childhood – swimming in a lake, running barefoot, climbing trees.  As the character grows older, these things are replaced by magazines and secrets, but whenever she returns to the wood, when there is quiet, her friend Salamander returns and it’s as if they were never apart.  The story is touching, visually poetic, and recalls the best moments of childhood.

Reader’s Annotation

Eight-year-old Hailey wanders through the woods in bare feet, looking at butterflies and cicadas, running up and down hills.  In the forest, she meets her friend Salamander, and swims and listens to his stories.  As she grows up, she begins to loose touch with Salamander, but occasionally, he’ll appear, and will tell her a story.

Author Info

Hope Larson was born on September 17, 1982.  She grew up in Asheville, North Carolina.  She earned a BFA in 2004 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Larson lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her husband Bryan Lee O’Malley.  She is currently working on a graphic novel adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time.

Hope Larson (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Larson.

Genre

Graphic Novel

Curriculum Ties

None

Book Talking Ideas

Think back to a time when you were young, and to a place that was all your own.  What did it look like?  Do remember how it smelled during the summer?  If you went back there again, what do you think it would be like?

Reading Level

13+

Challenge Issues

None

Selection

Found it while searching for Robot Dreams for my daughter.