Mushrooms Know: Wisdom From Our Friends the Fungi

Mushrooms Know: Wisdom From Our Friends the Fungi is a perfect multi-age nonfiction picture book. The pages are filled with colourful illustrations of delightful mushrooms with character. Every mushroom has a simple but expressive face. The main large font text is written to be read or shared with young readers. Additional information is printed on the same double-page spread in smaller font. The additional information expands on the original text to provide a much more in-depth look at the science of mushrooms. Included in the thank you is “A special thanks to mycologist Keith Seifert for his expert review” so it seems safe to assume that the scientific information is credible.

Most of the mushroom is underground in a network called mycelium, which is made up of living threads of cells known as hyphae. We only see the top part of the mushroom.

The subtitle of the book is Wisdom From Our Friends the Fungi. In addition to the expert mushroom information contained in the additional text, the main text shares examples of the wisdom from our fungi friends.

Mushrooms always wear their thinking caps. They know so many things.

Mushrooms know there is more beneath the surface than meets the eye.

Small can be mighty …
Mushrooms know to grow friendships too.

Also illustrated is a life cycle beginning at the bottom of a double-page spread with mushrooms growing on the decomposed remains of an animal, mushrooms feeding a shrub which is eaten by a rabbit, which is eaten by a fox, which eventually dies and contributes nutrition to the soil for mushrooms to grow again.

The book concludes with a “Did You Know?” section with some interesting additional facts about mushrooms, ending with a reminder that “mushrooms can be poisonous. It’s fun to look for mushrooms, but just look. Never eat or touch any mushrooms you find.”

Mushrooms Know: Wisdom From Our Friends the Fungi is a winner. The lovely illustrations are endearing and sure to appeal to younger and older readers. Along the way, everyone is sure to learn a lot about mushrooms and a little about themselves.