An odd little book with hardly any words but at it's core it's about how you can grow up and still hold on to the magic of your childhood. ( )

Salamander Dream by Hope Larson is a coming of age graphic novel about a little girl named Hailey, a magical forest, and her imaginary friend the Salamander. He tells her stories about swimming with a minnow and flying with a hawk. As Hailey grows into adolescence, she spends more time with her friends and comes by less often to the forest until later on when she is an adult she visits Salamander one last time and tells him a story.

This is Hope Larson's first solo project, my first attempt at reading a graphic novel, and writing a review on one. I honestly didn't know what to make of the story, so I read it again. This time, taking a bit more in of the tone and mood. Salamander Dream has a quiet, sweet, and almost mystical air to it. I can't quite make sense of it. The question remains for me, was there romantic feelings between Hailey and Salamander or was it just a sincere friendship? Through the development of Salamander's character, I truly felt there was more than that.

I found the illustrations to be beautiful because of their minimalistic style. There was just a pretty green, white and black. The feet of the characters would dangle gracefully in midair at times and I am not sure the symbolism of this but I found the image where they are embracing one another while floating in the air in front of the tree to be so charming. I go back to it again and again to analyze it and what I see is Hailey pulling back maybe perhaps as her imagination isn't as strong as it used to be and Salamander holding on tightly. I adore these endearing illustrations and they make up for the random ones that I can't make sense of.

Overall, for a first, I would say this story was unique and Hope Larson seems to have a style all her own. I think this would be appropriate for any child over the age of 7 and from the response I've read on the internet, even adults enjoy this novel. ( )

Salamander seems best kind of imaginary childhood friend — one you can find your way to revisit. Recommended.
http://12frogs.com/reading/reviews/2009/07/salamander-dream/ ( )

Annotation: Hailey loves to spend time in the forest imagining a friendship with Salamander, who tells her fantastical stories.

Review: Salamander Dream is a graphic novel that tells a simple story about a girl Hailey and her love of her, most likely imaginary, friend Salamander. Salamander tells her stories that take her on journeys though the forest, diving deep in the river and flying on the back of a hawk. As she gets older she comes into the forest less and less, preferring to be with her human friends. Like Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, Hailey returns to the forest to rejoin her friend Salamander at different times throughout her childhood and adolescence. The novel explores the magic of imagination, showing how the imaginary world, although it seems farther away as we get older, can be a source of sustenance throughout our lives. Matching the surrealness of the story are simple black, green and white drawings that captures the dream like world of anthropomorphic animals and endless starry skies. It should appeal to a wide range of ages, including adults, but is best suited for children age 7 to 12.

Citation: I like the reviews description of the images as whimsical and dreamlike. The reviewer also makes an interesting observation about the way the text loops through the, “the scenery and the limbs of the characters, stretching into the nature that surrounds them.”

Publishers Weekly, 252.28 (July 18, 2005) ( )

Magical, lyrical, lovely coming-of-age graphic novel for girls, or anyone who loves them. ( )