Fungus is Among Us!

by Joy Keller, Erica Salcedo (Illustrator)

Overview

You can run, but you can't hide.

They're in the air you breathe. They're in the food you eat. They're on your body. Fungi are EVERYWHERE!

But wait . . . do you need to be afraid? From fun facts about fairy circles to the delicious secret behind pizza, this book is the perfect read for young scientists. It even contains a Q & A section with a real-life mycologist!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943147649
Publisher:	The Innovation Press
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	295,236
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	710L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 10 Years

About the Author

Joy Keller is the author of fun and fantastic picture books, including Monster Trucks and Miss Turie's Magic Creatures. When she's not writing, she's teaching fourth graders how to write. She lives in Fairport, New York with her husband, two children, and several cats.

Erica Salcedo is an illustrator based in Cuenca, Spain. She studied Fine Art at Castilla-La Mancha University, before earning a master's degree in graphic design and illustration from the University of Valencia. She has illustrated many books, including Kid Normal by Greg James.

Editorial Reviews

"...an impressive introduction to a largely misunderstood—and vital—part of our world."

Booklist

"...an impressive introduction to a largely misunderstood—and vital—part of our world."

Booklist

10/01/2019

Gr 1–4—This narrative nonfiction title, written in couplet rhymes, is all about fungi. The main character, sporting oversize Snapchat-style glasses, blueish-black hair, and one sagging sock, mouth open in a scream, is frightened by the prospect that she can't escape fungus. It's along the trail she hikes, in the tree she climbs, in her yard, and even in her house. The bathroom, refrigerator, and kitchen all contain fungus. The only acceptable fungus lives in the pizza her dad is making (mushrooms and yeast in the dough). Keller points out that fungi are everywhere, even on humans. The protagonist eventually accepts that fungi are helpful and not necessarily as scary as she first anticipated. Small print mixed in among the pages provides additional scientific information. Illustrations are bold and bright. The fungi are depicted with goggle eyes and tiny mouths. Back matter contains an interview with a mycologist who answers questions about what the job entails. VERDICT A fun introductory piece of informational poetry that will be enjoyed by many age groups. Great paired with Carla Billups and Dawn Cusick's It's a Fungus Among Us: The Good, the Bad & the Downright Scary.—Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio

School Library Journal

2019-07-28
Mushrooms, lichens, yeasty bread, too. Are your salad and breadsticks—alive?

Beneath its sensationalistic title, this is a truly delightful rhyming book about the wonderful surprises that await us in nature. Author Keller brings alive the woods with a second-person text addressed at a bespectacled, elementary-age child whose walk along a woodland path is soon fraught with unexpected visitors. "You crouch to look. / You're shocked to see / its cap…its stalk…its gills! / A fungus grows / among us now— / so strange it gives you chills." Soon the kid is noticing all types of fungus, from mushrooms to mold to spores. Illustrator Salcedo provides art that is the perfect blend of humor and information. She uses bold primary colors and adorable expressiveness to highlight not only the human character (a brown-skinned kid with exuberantly bushy hair), but the myriad plants, veggies, and other living things, both microscopic and visible to the naked eye, the kid encounters. In addition to the snappy verse, Keller offers discreet, prose interjections of science—perfect for young readers with a penchant to know a little bit more. The sweet little science asides offer clearly explained insight into microscopic life forms affecting our lives. The book closes with a three-page interview with a mycologist and a bibliography.

Fun, rhythmic, informative, and worthy of many happy read-aloud moments. (Picture book. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews