Fungi Are… More Than Mushrooms: Book Review

I was just introduced to the most fascinating book: Fungi Are… More Than Mushrooms.

This little gem was published a few days ago and would be absolutely perfect to use in the classroom!

Fungi Are… More Than Mushrooms

Written by Alisha Gabriel

Illustrated by Vivien Sárkány

Tielmour Press, March 15, 2025

36 pages

Book Summary (from Tielmour Press)

Learn about the hidden world of fungi in this beautifully earthy non-fiction picture book!

From single-celled, microscopic yeasts to massive mushrooms, fungi are essential to life on our planet yet often overlooked.

Discover how spores disperse, fungi grow, animals find food, bees heal themselves, and trees communicate, all thanks to this fascinating kingdom. With straightforward, lyrical explanations, readers will gain insight into how fungi impact our planet and the interconnectedness of nature.

What I Thought

This is a gorgeous book and would make a wonderful gift for a child or their teacher — or both!

The artwork was digitally created by the talented Vivien Sárkány. I just love the semi-realistic illustrations, with the tiny endearing characters, and the soft, earthy tones. Despite being a non-fiction text, the artwork gives it a touch of magic.

The book is extremely well-written. It flows well and despite being chock-full of facts, it doesn’t overwhelm the reader.

I also really appreciate the way the author designed the text in such a way that the book will easily appeal to very young readers, as well as older children. Do you notice in the image above there’s a simple sentence at the top of the page and then supporting details at the bottom? She does this throughout the book!

So if you’re reading the book to pre-schoolers or K’s, you could choose to read the larger text only, which I found to be both poetic and super interesting.

But of course, if you choose to read ALL the text (and I hope you do) you’ll probably be enthralled, as I was, to learn all about the fascinating world of fungi.

There’s a ton of information in this treasure of a book that I’m sure will appeal to and spark the curiosity of children from 3 to 13.

Story Extensions for Fungi Are… More Than Mushrooms

1. How to Draw a Mushroom Tutorial

Art Projects for Kids is one of my favourite go-to sites. She never disappoints! If you follow the link you’ll find some very clear directions for drawing this mushroom PLUS a free colouring page.

2. The Ultimate Canadian Mushrooms Guide for Kids

Twinkl has a free guide to the mushrooms in Canada. It even includes a variety of mushrooms that are native to our territories and most (but sadly not all) of our provinces. It’s a fascinating and educational read though, so I highly recommend you give it a visit.

3. Watch a Video All About Fungi

This one comes from Next Generation Science.

4. Science Experiment

In one section of the book the author talks about single-celled fungi known as yeasts, which make bread dough rise and help it to be fluffy.

Grab some yeast, water and sugar and follow this simple experiment by Scholastic.

5. Indigenous Connections

For those of you interested in learning about the importance of fungi to Canadian Indigenous Peoples then you might be interested in an article I came across: ‘Frog’s umbrella’ and ‘ghost’s face powder’: the cultural roles of mushrooms and other fungi for Canadian Indigenous Peoples.

It’s definitely an adult read, though it does have some very beautiful photographs of various mushrooms that could easily be viewed and discussed by older kids, say Grade 4 up to 8 or 9.

6. Grow Your Own Mushrooms

I’m not sure how practical this would be in the classroom — I’ve never tried it. But if you’re a home schooler or just really into mushrooms then you’d probably love a mushroom mini farm kit! I’m sure you can get them all over the place, but here’s one from a Canadian retailer in Montreal.

7. Mushroom Clip Art

And finally, I couldn’t resist drawing my own digital mushroom in line art and sharing it with you. This little guy is perfect for jazzing up worksheets or perhaps a birthday invitation or even game cards.

DOWNLOAD: MUSHROOM CLIP ART

I hope you love Fungi Are… More Than Mushrooms!

Be sure to check out my other books reviews.

Happy reading!