Big Night for Salamanders
PreSchool-Grade 4—On the first warm rainy night of spring, the spotted salamanders make their annual trek to their breeding ground at the vernal pool. Evan and his parents are out too, because the creatures' route takes them directly across a dangerous road. Like hundreds of other volunteers on "Big Night," the family stops traffic and warns motorists to brake for the amphibians. The text elegantly blends fiction and nonfiction, alternating between lyrical, italicized descriptions of the salamanders and their movements and a straightforward narrative about the family helping them. The use of present tense lends immediacy and suspense to the tale, and Benioff's gouache illustrations impart a sense of wonder. A comprehensive afterword gives more details about the life cycle of the spotted salamander, Big Night, and vernal pools. This is an excellent addition to science units, and could be paired with Anne Mazer'sThe Salamander Room(Knopf, 1991) for a super salamander storytime.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MDCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.