Review by Booklist Review
If you want to know how seeds spread and help grow plants, there are plenty of options. But what about spores (and what are spores, anyway)? Gianferrari introduces the fungal life cycle in this enchanting informational picture book, beginning with, yes, spores and how they disperse and take root to create new fungi. Whether the spores puff, plop, poof, or pee-ew ("spread with stink and slime"), Gianferrari provides concise, lyrical descriptions in a large font with extra details printed small. These combine with Sudyka's wonderfully colorful, loose, yet still realistic gouache watercolors to show a variety of fungi and their characteristics. A primary focus is on how fungi spread their root-like threads called hyphae to form a mycelium. This network of underground threads fuses trees together and allows them to communicate through a "wood-wide web." Other interesting topics include mushrooms (the fruiting part of fungi) and how fungi affect people, animals, and the environment, from being poisonous or safe to eat to healing through antibiotics. Back matter with extended facts makes this a fung-guide, indeed.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4--This vibrantly illustrated picture book sheds a comprehensive light on the often-overlooked mushroom. At first glance, this is a book for younger readers, but each page also features more detailed facts and information about the fascinating fungi world that older elementary students will appreciate as well. The narrative follows the life cycle of a mushroom, starting with a spore and then emphasizing how fungi grow above and below ground, and how they can be helpful but also deadly. The zombie ant fungus is something straight out of a sci-fi horror film! Sudyka's illustrations beautifully match the text and often include words that appear themselves as part of the illustration as the fungi spores, puff, poof, and multiply. The author doesn't shy away from using scientific terminology, such as mycelium, hyphae, and mycologist. Back matter includes a glossary and a list of resources and fun facts. VERDICT A noteworthy addition to all collections and a book that is sure to enthrall young biologists.--Heidi Dechief
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The partnership of an action-oriented text and vibrant watercolor illustrations creates an enthusiastic introduction to the growth and effects (both positive and negative) of various forms of fungi. Gianferrari explains that fungi spores disperse in various ways: some "puff" with the wind, others "plop" with the rain, and still others spread through "stink and slime": "pee-ew!" Sudyka illustrates each onomatopoeic word with large lettering that graphically reflects the sound. For example, the letters in puff look like cotton balls, those in plop are thin with long vertical lines resembling falling rain, and flies swarming around the grisly black and gray shivery lines of pee-ew are appropriately gross. This complementary pattern of text-telling and illustration-showing continues as Gianferrari discusses how fungi grow: mycorrhizal fungi's delicate filigree threads connect trees to the "wood-wide web," while sometimes fungi "erupt" from rotting wood. A particularly dramatic illustration shows brown and rust and gray artist's bracket fungi covering a decaying stump. This passion for fungal biology is obvious not only in Gianferrari's use of scientific terms and explanations (in small type) throughout but also in the comprehensive back matter: a glossary that expands text definitions, a discussion of how fungi heal and help, some related facts, a diagram of one mushroom's life cycle, sources, recommended reading, and pertinent online resources. Terrific. Betty CarterSeptember/October 2023 p.94 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Molds and mushrooms flourish in this introduction to the fungal life cycle. With a bright palette and vigorous brushwork, illustrator Sudyka portrays exuberant arrays of mushrooms blasting out swirls of spores with a "PUFF!" "PLOP!" "POOF!" or, for the aptly named dog stinkhorn, "PEE-EW!" Then, as author Gianferrari describes how hyphae release enzymes that break down rock and wood into nutrients and minerals--"making / by unmaking"--cross-sectional views reveal underground habitats crowded with roots, rocks, burrowing insects and other wildlife, and fungal threads winding through to create an interactive "wood-wide web." A second explosion of fruiting bodies, each with an inconspicuous identifying label, leads to a further burst of fungal facts, featuring zombie ants and species that feed on plastic or even (as at Chernobyl) gamma radiation. The author and illustrator stick to land-based species, so marine fungi go unmentioned. Likewise, they draw attention to neither lichens nor (aside from a nod to penicillium) molds, and spores remain just dustlike clouds without any closer looks. Still, readers will come away dazzled by the kingdom's huge variety of forms and colors, a bit more informed about fungi's potential uses for industry and waste disposal, and properly warned off from eating any found mushrooms without an expert's OK. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A bit thin on coverage but exuberant and engaging. (glossary, more information on fungi, diagram of the fungal life cycle, resource lists) (Informational picture book. 6-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
