The Moon of the Salamanders

The 13 Moons

by Jean Craighead George, Marlene Hill Werner (Illustrator)

On a rainy March night, a salamander returns to the spring pond for the ancient mating dance of the salamanders

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Science

47 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Jean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey Inward.

The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

So yes, it actually does very much appear as though Jean Craighead George's 1967 The Moon of the Salamanders (although the copy I read was published in 1992 and also has a different illustrator than the 1967 first edition) is in fact part of a longer series (one book for each month of the year, with an additional tome about moles that spans both December and January, and with The Moon of the Salamanders representing March). But unfortunately, although the other books of the series do most definitely interest me, unlike The Moon of the Salamanders, I have not been able to locate them on Open Library, and since I am at present really not yet sufficiently interested and engaged enough to consider purchasing the remaining Thirteen Moons instalments (in particular because the online asking prices for them have tended to be rather too expensive for my budget and especially with regard to shipping costs, which have really been quite massively ridiculous and outrageous during the covid 19 pandemic), The Moon of the Salamanders will be the only tome of Jean Craighead George's Thirteen Moons series I am (at least for the time being) going to be reading and of course also reviewing.

And with regard to the book itself, yes and certainly (and even if one considers the 1967 original publication date), I have definitely found The Moon of the Salamanders one of the most informative and also most scientifically sound pieces of juvenile writing about salamanders I have encountered to date (not only with consideration of and towards current salamander life and behaviour but also with regard to salamander prehistory and how they and other forms of animal life have evolved, and with Jean Craighead George's presented narrative indeed being simply replete with relevant details and information). Accompanied by Marlene Hill Werner's lushly descriptive and atmospheric full page and equally also full colour illustrations, readers from about the age of eight or so onwards receive a delightful both textual and visual introduction to salamanders and to salamander life (including behaviour such as mating) which is both engaging and informative, with my only mild (and personal) complaint being that I do wish Jean Craighead George were not so much into personalising (and thus almost humanising) her salamander main character(s), that she presented a text in The Moon of the Salamanders that is a bit less touchy-feely and more just and only scientific data and facts orientated.

However, even with my issues regarding certain aspects of the author's, of Jean Craighead George's writing style, I still do both highly recommend The Moon of the Salamanders and am also rating it with four solid stars. Since well, for the intended audience, for younger readers, Jean Craighead George's focus not only on facts but also on getting to personally know the salamanders encountered in The Moon of the Salamanders might actually be totally the right fit and as such also the way to retain reading interest amongst and for the target audience (and yes indeed, and finally, but for me very much importantly, I also do very much and totally appreciate that Jean Craighead George has included a short but sufficiently detailed bibliography, as this really does in my opinion massively increase the teaching and learning value of The Moon of the Salamanders).

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book for pre-teens who want to learn more about salamanders. As a salamanderphile myself, I know the importance of teaching young children to appreciate these marvelous creatures. This book focuses on spotted salamanders. For 30 million years, they have acted in virtually the same way. Only our interference will change that progression.

[Kerrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written so so well and a beautiful bit of science education. There are 13 books, one for each moon cycle of the year and each focuses on a different animal and its relationship to the world around them. I’ve only read this one but I’m committed to getting my hands on the set for my home library.

[Christopher Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The salamanders awaken from their winter slumber in march and begin their journey towards the pond where they will mate and lay their eggs. Through cold rains and flooding streams they slide towards their destination, ignoring the rest of the forest as it awakens from winter. Insects, birds and fish come alive while the salamanders begin their mating dance in the pond. Finally, their mission complete, the salamanders return to their underground dens.

This book brings information about the salamander alive in narrative form for young readers. It has an enthralling plot filled with information about salamanders and other animals that live in the woods around the ponds they call home. Beautiful illustrations complement the story of the Salamander moon. This is one in a series of books that turns reading about the natural world into a wonder and fills it with magic.