A Salamander's Life

by John Himmelman

Examines the life cycle of a Nature A Salamander's Life

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

John Himmelman is the author and illustrator of more than sixty books for children, including Chickens to the Rescue. He lives in Connecticut with his family.

According John's Facebook page, he has been "making up stories and scribbling pictures since I could hold a crayon in my hand. It became my job in 1981, when my first book, "Talester the Lizard" was published during my last year in college (School of Visual Arts)....It behooves a writer to try and turn what interests them into their work. I've been fortunate to do that with my love of nature, with books - for adults and children - focusing on different natural history topics."

Reviews

[SaraKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informational book about the life cycle of the spotted salamander. It follows a female salamander from the egg for several years. The dangers a salamander faces are illustrated as well as the adaptations they have to protect them. I liked the illustrations and this will be a great book for upper grade classes like mine to introduce amphibians, adaptations, ecosystems, food chains, etc.

[Jennifer Entwistle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic book about the salamander life cycle.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our 4 1/2 year old and his parents enjoyed this realistic and charmingly (I use that word a lot, don't I?)illustrated story of one of Papa's favorite animals. The clear, almost lyrical pictures give a very distinct idea of how the Salamander's life cycle goes. Don't worry, tenderhearted parents: though the salamander (female) is almost caught by a milk snake, she escapes and goes on to lay eggs the next spring; nothing too explicit, but she does find a male for this. Anyway, the story leaves us at her repeated cycle of hibernation/spring waking, no tragic ending. (Salamanders live from 8-10 years usually, sez the internet, so that's not unrealistic.)
A very nice nature study, which we checked out in light of it being hibernation study season.