Mushrooms Know: Wisdom From Our Friends the Fungi

by Kallie George, Sara Gillingham (Illustrator)

An adorable, STEM-themed picture book for kids 4 to 8 that reveals the wisdom mushrooms have to teach us.Mushrooms always wear their thinking caps. They know so many things. This vibrant and informative book shares the fascinating lessons that fungi can teach that small can be mighty, being unique is a reason to celebrate—and staying connected is key. Sara Gillingham’s lively art and Kallie George’s charming text captures the wondrous world of mushrooms, and everything we can learn from it.Featuring over fifty kinds of mushrooms, Mushrooms Know Engaging informational side bars with wild facts about mushrooms (such as how some are so strong they can grow through cement, and others can glow in the dark!)Backmatter that dives further into the scienceImportant life lessons (including how to help each other and keep our homes clean)For budding mycologists and forest adventurers alike, this is a must-have addition to the science and nature bookshelf.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Childrens, Plants, Canada

40 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2024

About the author

I’m an author, editor, and speaker living in Vancouver, BC, near the sea. When I’m not writing or editing, I’m teaching creative writing workshops.

I have my Masters of Children's Literature from the University of British Columbia.

I love picture books, fairy tales, beautiful art and music, and baking cookies.

Reviews

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous bright illustrations of mushrooms, with two levels of text: one simpler with more metaphorical meanings and another more complex and science oriented. My kid loves this one!

[Christian Schultheiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazing and checks nearly all the boxes for me both in terms of the amazing, diverse and eye opening art work of hundreds of the thousands of different species of mushrooms that exist in our worlds. It takes a lovely scientific step and perspective in growing a new generation of excited explorers and lifelong learners, having it both being easily read and digest while simultaneously being quite knowledge rich and deep and I found myself being surprised and even taught something on at least every other page and I think that’s just amazing in its own right and all children’s books should strive to this remarkable culmination/love letter to nature. 4.5/5

[Danielle T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so stinking cute! Bright colors and cheerful smiles on all the fungi here as relatable resilience and facts are relayed to kids here.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic resource for children who love to learn about nature. Not only does this book share valuable information about mushrooms, but it also shares valuable information about nature itself. I actually learned new facts while reading this book, so parents may enjoy it too! 

This book gives information about the basic makeup of mushrooms, how they help nature, and some facts about specific types of mushrooms. Each page features beautiful illustrations of the different types of mushrooms, along with the names of each of those mushrooms. I love how easy to read this book is too; it is an information dump but in an easy-to-understand way. It's written perfectly for children. 

Mushrooms play a huge and important role in the ecosystem, and learning about them is a lot of fun. This book would be great to bring on nature walks to help identify different mushrooms you can find. The book also reminds us that some mushrooms can be dangerous, so we should never touch them, especially if we don't know what they are for sure.

Thank you Greystone Kids for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Paul Sutter]

While children’s books can be amusing, they can also be highly educational. That is precisely what you will find in MUSHROOMS KNOW. It is a book filled with information that is fun and whimsical for younger children. The authors have done an exceptional job of fitting in so much information about mushrooms.
The first words in the book are “mushrooms always wear their thinking caps.” We learn how they grow and where they grow. Mushrooms are made of thousands of spores that are seeds, and scatter in the wind, to even remote areas of the world. We learn of all the types of mushrooms in the world, along with the honey mushroom that has an underground network that covers thousands of acres, and has been living for almost 2,500 years. Mushrooms also help trees, absorbing water and minerals, passing them along to the trees.
Children learn not all mushrooms are healthy, with some poisonous, warning them about randomly eating them. It makes for a truly informative book that children young and old will find very entertaining.

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this is an enchanting and informative book. This would be a great gift for readers 3 to 7, but it has broader appeal than that.

This picture book written by Kallie George and illustrated by Sara Gillingham contains a wealth of information about these fun little fungi by very accessible text and charming illustrations. The text is in two parts, typical of some of the newer nonfiction books for children. There is larger text directed at young readers, but then there is smaller font text that gives scientific information for the parent, grandparent, older sibling, parent, or grandparent to read to provide more facts as the child is reader to learn them. For this reason, this is a book that has broader age appeal than evident at first glance.

One of the most interesting pages is the two-page spread that has almost two dozen mushrooms depicted (with little smiling faces). Each one has its name written near it. The read aloud text says, "Mushrooms know that being unique is a reason to celebrate." The smaller font text reads, "Mushrooms come in an incredible variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. There are over thirty thousand known species of mushrooms in the world with more being discovered all the time."

Other pages focus on their caps, their roots, their spores, the medicinal use for some (but not all! some are poisonous to humans), some glow, many have a symbiotic relationship to other life, and other interesting facts.

At the back of the book is a more facts, such as an explanation of the category of fungi (not a plant, not an animal).

I really like this book! It's one of my very favorite picture books read in 2024. It's smart and fun.

[Louise M. Aamodt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book to introduce kids to the fascinating world of mushrooms! Yes, fascinating. If you don't really consider mushrooms fascinating, this book is for you. The main text is simple and carries the heart of the book ("They know that you can stand firm, yet also spread out free"), and each is accompanied by layered text sharing interesting, kid-accessible information (how spores spread). Be sure to check out the back matter, and slow down to read the quirky mushroom names for each illustration.

[Sobia A Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raya loved the bright bold illustrations in this book. Each double page is a dark color with almost fluorescent like illustrations on it of the various mushrooms and other aspects of nature. She couldn't put it down thus showing her future love for mushrooms :) The bigger font words were read to Raya, where as the smaller font ones were too detailed for anyone under upper elementary level. The author includes 2 pages of short fun facts at the end.

This was read several times to Raya by various family members.

A must read for any mushroom lover.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally I'd put this towards the lower end of the age range (the 4-5), even though it has little sidebars with more scientific information for the slightly older kids in the given range of 4-8. The illustrations are cute, and some of the mushrooms get a little highlight about where they grow or if they're poisonous. For the young mycologist, this is a good starting point, but the older ones might want a little more substance to their fungi information and photos of mushrooms than this has to offer. I picked this up as part of the library’s winter reading challenge.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

MUSHROOMS KNOW is a great picture book that packs in a lot of information about mushrooms, without being didactic. While it focuses on the characteristics and traits of more than 50 types of mushrooms, young readers may consider how these characteristics could apply to them as this book celebrates the diversity, need for community, and self-care among mushrooms.

Vibrantly illustrated, this book features side bars that further enhances the simpler text. Great for a classroom or home library!

[Ellon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars (I really liked it)

This was so cute! And informative! Lots of information about mushrooms delivered in an easy to understand manner. I think the illustrations are really whimsical and engaging.

Would definitely recommend including this in an elementary school library! I'm adding it to my list for the next time I'm able to purchase materials.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting information about mushrooms and colorful illustrations make this picture book attractive. The abstract concepts and life lessons that mushrooms are supposedly teaching are beyond the understanding of most early elementary students who are clearly the target audience.
F&P reading level O.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

No study of mushrooms will be complete without this adorable book! I loved the speech bubbles with comments from the mushrooms as illustrations show the depth of their roots and the travels of their spores as well as their diversity and ability to acclimate in so many different ways.

I love quirky books that will work for just the right person and this one will find it's audience for sure!

[Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a delight, but it doesn’t quite work to read both the big text and the small text at the same time, because the rhymes and sentences that span multiple pages get lost. I love all the pieces but wish they fit together more elegantly.

[Meghan Bohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is absolutely fantastic; it's cozy SEL lessons about taking care of yourself, your friends, and your neighbors, all told through the cutest mushrooms you've ever seen, with additional fun fungi facts in smaller text for the kids who want to read everything. One of my favorite 2024 books!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t expecting to be so utterly charmed by a book about mushrooms but this is a book I found absolutely delightful.

[Patricia Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informational with the happiest fungi illustrations.

[Gabrielle Stoller · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a fan of mushrooms, you will like this book a lot. The illustrations are fun and there a lot of fun mushroom facts

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations and the information, I just didn’t like the flow of the main narrative interspersed with the information. Otherwise it was great!

[Shazzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read HC print edition (9781778400773)

[Taylor Kundel-Gower · Rating 4 out of 5]

911? Yes, hello, I cannot stop purchasing cute and informative mushroom books for my collection.

[abbie (library)]

informative, colorful illustrations!!

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has no business being as perfect as it is 😍

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

School-age

[Mackenzie Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did NOT read the kindle edition but it's the only one I can find on here and now I'm cranky lol

[Anna Wooliver Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. 🍄

[Jessica Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and fabulous book filled with fantastic facts about mushrooms. The illustrations are just magnificent!

[Miriam Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful and informative.

[Kurt Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has great illustrations for kids, and wonderful information for kids.

[Elizabeth Estling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg this book is so sweet and heartwarming yet also so smart and adorable all at once. Truly a stunning book.