The Mystery of Mushroom Valley by J David Holt

 

An adventure story for children between the ages of 7-11. 

Taylor discovers gardening with Aunt Nell. Then Uncle Hat says that he doesn't need to do any gardening to get a great harvest. Taylor is intrigued and goes on a mushroom hunt with Uncle Hat, who says:

 “This is the perfect time of year to go mushroom hunting. The ferns are popping out of the ground,
the mayapples’ little umbrellas just opened, and we’ve had three warm days in a row.”

Uncle Hat teaches Taylor to find the well-camouflaged morel mushrooms, which turn out to be very tasty when they are 'cut in half, rolled in breadcrumbs, and fried in egg batter'.

When Uncle Hat gets ill, Taylor shows other family members how to forage for morels. Unfortunately they get too enthusiastic and take too many of the mushrooms. It's many years before Taylor sees a good crop of morels in the forest again.

This is a lovely story about a child discovering the beauty of nature and learning the lesson, vital for any foraging, to not take more than your fair share of nature's bounty. 

The story is followed by a series of questions to get the reader thinking about the content. 

The book is beautifully illustrated by Ukrainian artist,  Deylik Larisa.

The Mystery of Mushroom Valley by J. David Holt.  

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Disclaimer: I was sent a free pdf of this book in return for an honest review.  

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Meanwhile, thanks to the editors of Femku magazine for including two of my haiku in the latest issue. You can read the whole issue here.