The story about a young girl and a magical salamander was inspired by Larson's youth playing in nature, and it was originally released as a webcomic.

The character Hailey lives on the edge of a small city, frequently walking with her magical friend through the forest next to her house, listening to his stories.

[1] Larson spent a lot of time playing around a creek as a child, imagining a "king of the salamanders" living in an underground palace with quartz walls.

Larson and Soo launched the website Secret Friend Society at the start of 2005, with the goal of attracting attention from publishers.

The latter praised Salamander Dream in particular for how it "captures the energy and loneliness of growing up ... while presenting a hopeful picture of a grown-up world as full of magic as any child's imagination," all with minimal usage of dialog.