Katya's Book of Mushrooms

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 3 MAR 1997

From common Domestic Caps to the deadly Destroying Angel, from Octopus Stinkhorns to Scaly Hedgehogs--Arnold (Baba Yaga), a lifelong mycophile, here shares her passion for wild mushrooms. In collaboration with Swope (The Araboolies of Liberty Street), she serves up a glorious, earthy stew of fact, humor, folklore and personal stories likely to intrigue readers of all ages. Arnold weaves the serious study of mushrooms into the fabric of a gamesome, enterprising hobby, incorporating the charm of folk names alongside scientific terms and pairing activities with straightforward text. The illustrations are just as eclectic and exuberant: Arnold combines small paintings and cartoons against bright backgrounds; rustic artwork resembling woodcuts; and prints of mushroom caps. The headings include "Mushroom Lovers" (Siberian reindeer favor Fly agaric--"it seems to make them happy"); "Kinds of Mushrooms" (one pound of black truffles "costs as much as a good computer"); and "Identifying Mushrooms" (Hydnellum peckii looks like "a piece of cheese with drops of blood on it"). Arnold's stories from her Russian childhood anchor the book: in one anecdote, Muscovites mistakenly diagnosed an earthquake when "giant slabs of sidewalk" outside a museum were "lifted" by teams of tiny mushrooms. Fungal fervor at its most contagious. Ages 6-10.