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Mushroom Rain
What can smell like bubble gum, glow neon green at night, be poisonous and yet still eaten by humans, and even help create rain? The answer is mushrooms! From their hidden networks underground to the fruiting body above, mushrooms can do incredible things. But don't call them plants--mushrooms are fungi. They're more closely related to animals like you! Through lyrical text and colorful, detailed artwork, the wonderful, mysterious, and sometimes bizarre world of mushrooms is explored. Back matter includes a glossary, additional mushroom facts, and a science activity.
32 pages, Hardcover
Published March 15, 2022
4 people are currently reading
953 people want to read
About the author
Laura K. Zimmermann
1 book27 followersLaura K. Zimmermann is a college professor by day and children’s writer by night. She has published numerous academic articles as well as nonfiction stories in children’s magazines. MUSHROOM RAIN is her first picture book. When she's not writing, Laura can be found teaching and conducting research at Shenandoah University or wandering through nature with her Goldendoodle, Tivy. You can find Laura online at laurakzimmermann.com and on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest at @LauraK_PBwriter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews
May 29, 2022
If not for all the additional information about mushrooms on the pages at the end of the book (I was hoping to learn facts such as these) I would have given this book a lower rating.
The illustrations and sparse text in the book proper did draw me in and were almost hypnotic, but I wanted more and was glad the information at the end of the book was included. I was captivated. I learned some things which is what I wanted.
The illustrations are big and fill the pages. They seem/feel almost fantastical but they’re of mushrooms and the nature around them. I liked them and liked those on the end papers and accompanying the text information at the end even more than the lush illustrations in the book proper. I think that most readers/viewers/listeners will love the pictures.
I’ve been remiss. This book inspired me to add a non-binary shelf for authors/illustrators. I am wondering if I have other read books shelved that belong on that shelf. It’s likely that I do. I will have to pay more attention from now on and hope to find and make any corrected needed for books I’ve already read.
In addition to the scientific information about mushrooms, at the end of the book there is a simple craft project to do and short lists for further reading and a selected bibliography.
I love (some kinds of) mushrooms and find them fascinating and I’m glad that this book is available and that I got a chance to read a copy.
4-1/2 stars
The illustrations and sparse text in the book proper did draw me in and were almost hypnotic, but I wanted more and was glad the information at the end of the book was included. I was captivated. I learned some things which is what I wanted.
The illustrations are big and fill the pages. They seem/feel almost fantastical but they’re of mushrooms and the nature around them. I liked them and liked those on the end papers and accompanying the text information at the end even more than the lush illustrations in the book proper. I think that most readers/viewers/listeners will love the pictures.
I’ve been remiss. This book inspired me to add a non-binary shelf for authors/illustrators. I am wondering if I have other read books shelved that belong on that shelf. It’s likely that I do. I will have to pay more attention from now on and hope to find and make any corrected needed for books I’ve already read.
In addition to the scientific information about mushrooms, at the end of the book there is a simple craft project to do and short lists for further reading and a selected bibliography.
I love (some kinds of) mushrooms and find them fascinating and I’m glad that this book is available and that I got a chance to read a copy.
4-1/2 stars
September 26, 2023
Yes, Mushroom Rain (2022) is both verbally and illustratively wonderful, is simply spectacular and splendid in many ways, with Laura K. Zimmermann's words showing a poetic textual celebration of mushrooms (almost like a song of praise and glorification) and with Jamie Green's accompanying artwork being not only aesthetically lovely but with so much colourful immediacy that I am almost feeling drawn (and with no pun intended here) right into the depicted mushrooms and their surroundings. And I indeed really do adore how Green's artwork for Mushroom Rain might focus its primary gaze on the featured mushrooms but equally without ignoring their surroundings, their environment, so that the trees and plants that are in symbiosis with mushrooms, as well as the many animals that make use of mushrooms, that eat and store them (including a young adult woman out mushroom foraging with a basket) are being actively shown (but not in a way that ever overpowers and overwhelms the mushrooms and which of course are both Laura K. Zimmermann's and Jamie Green's main themes and contents for Mushroom Rain).
However, while the main textual body for Mushroom Rain, albeit the celebration of mushrooms is (and as shown above) lyrically penned and beautifully illustrated, Zimmermann's rather simple words also kind of leave both my older adult self and equally so my inner child wanting and needing a bit more factual information and details on mushrooms (and indeed, if Mushroom Rain would not have all that interesting and educational supplemental information included, well, my rating for Mushroom Rain would probably only be three stars, for a lyrically flowing text and visually enchanting artwork but with not quite enough informational depth). But honestly, I do indeed and totally stand by my five stars for Mushroom Rain, as I back matter Laura K. Zimmermann is providing really and truly is absolutely, is totally amazing, is extensive, scientifically solid, is interesting and has also been teaching me things about mushrooms of which I was not even aware (that for example, mushroom spores can actually seed clouds and cause rain, that mushrooms are only the fruiting bodies of vast underground systems of mycelia and more mycelia and that the largest known living thing on earth is in fact a huge and thousands of years old mushroom producing fungus growing in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon and that its mushrooms and mycelia combined are believed to weigh more than fifty blue whales).
Combined with the back matter for Mushroom Rain also showing and describing activities such as how to make mushroom spore prints, advice on studying mushrooms through sketching and including both a detailed bibliography and a few suggestions for further reading for the intent ended age group, the so-called picture book crowd, yes, the supplemental information section Laura K. Zimmermann provides is indeed wonderful and moves Mushroom Rain from something nicely adequate to marvellous, to superb (and with my only mild and rather insignificant annoyance being that I do think Zimmermann should in Mushroom Rain aside from pointing out that one should not pick or eat mushrooms unless one is totally sure it is edible and not toxic also show and describe with both text and illustrations the most toxic, the most dangerous mushrooms in existence, and that in my opinion, any book on mushrooms should definitely contain a list of lethal, of deadly toxic mushrooms to absolutely avoid, like death caps, destroying angels, false morels and the like).
However, while the main textual body for Mushroom Rain, albeit the celebration of mushrooms is (and as shown above) lyrically penned and beautifully illustrated, Zimmermann's rather simple words also kind of leave both my older adult self and equally so my inner child wanting and needing a bit more factual information and details on mushrooms (and indeed, if Mushroom Rain would not have all that interesting and educational supplemental information included, well, my rating for Mushroom Rain would probably only be three stars, for a lyrically flowing text and visually enchanting artwork but with not quite enough informational depth). But honestly, I do indeed and totally stand by my five stars for Mushroom Rain, as I back matter Laura K. Zimmermann is providing really and truly is absolutely, is totally amazing, is extensive, scientifically solid, is interesting and has also been teaching me things about mushrooms of which I was not even aware (that for example, mushroom spores can actually seed clouds and cause rain, that mushrooms are only the fruiting bodies of vast underground systems of mycelia and more mycelia and that the largest known living thing on earth is in fact a huge and thousands of years old mushroom producing fungus growing in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon and that its mushrooms and mycelia combined are believed to weigh more than fifty blue whales).
Combined with the back matter for Mushroom Rain also showing and describing activities such as how to make mushroom spore prints, advice on studying mushrooms through sketching and including both a detailed bibliography and a few suggestions for further reading for the intent ended age group, the so-called picture book crowd, yes, the supplemental information section Laura K. Zimmermann provides is indeed wonderful and moves Mushroom Rain from something nicely adequate to marvellous, to superb (and with my only mild and rather insignificant annoyance being that I do think Zimmermann should in Mushroom Rain aside from pointing out that one should not pick or eat mushrooms unless one is totally sure it is edible and not toxic also show and describe with both text and illustrations the most toxic, the most dangerous mushrooms in existence, and that in my opinion, any book on mushrooms should definitely contain a list of lethal, of deadly toxic mushrooms to absolutely avoid, like death caps, destroying angels, false morels and the like).
April 25, 2022
Mushroom Rain shares with readers some fascinating facts about mushrooms. Mushrooms present themselves in many different ways. Zimmerman highlights some of the different sights and smells that mushrooms provide to the world. Additional information covers the way they reproduce, what animals they feed, how they spread, and how they help create rain. Green's illustrations are amazing in their detail as the work hand in hand with the poetic text. It was incredible to learn about the the world's largest known organism being a mushroom-producing fungus. The back matter adds a lot of interesting details, along with a science activity and resources for learning more. This book personifies what a great nonfiction picture book should be, not only is the subject matter interesting but it's presented in a fantastic way.
August 11, 2022
A fine primer on fungi for the younger set.
The illustrations by Jamie Green are BEYOND GORGEOUS!
With four pages of facts and a bibliography at the end of the book.
The illustrations by Jamie Green are BEYOND GORGEOUS!
With four pages of facts and a bibliography at the end of the book.
January 11, 2023
Not sure who the audience is for this, but it has stunning illustrations that make my heart soar. There's a little bit of information about mushrooms, too, the most interesting being that some smell like bubble gum and some smell like dead animals. Some of the life cycle of mushrooms is depicted but very poetically/vaguely. I really love the pictures.
March 16, 2022
This lyrical picture book about mushrooms is a 3.5 for me. I'd never have dreamed that I'd be so caught up by a text about these interesting fungi. But the author's descriptions of their various scents and colors. coupled with the eye-popping illustrations alongside the informational text, makes this a book perfect for an introductory science lesson. The surreal, almost alien nature of some of the images lends a mysterious element to the pages as does the author's discussion of how mushrooms seem to suddenly arrive and just as suddenly disappear. But they're not completely gone since they have an underground network beneath the forest that connects them. Most astonishingly (to me, at any rate) is the fact that mushroom spores are part of what makes clouds form. The book's back matter provides additional information about mushrooms, including their parts, where they can be found, what animals choose them for food, and even some activity and research suggestions to learn more about them. Although all elements of this book are visually attractive, including the endpapers with their black and white sketches of different mushrooms, the opening double-page spread with those reddish orange caps and pale gills and stems taking up almost the entire space and set against a dark background, will certainly entice young readers and turn what might have been a bland topic into a reading adventure, aided admirably by the engaging text.
January 20, 2026
"Without warning, they appear, Mushrooms! Delicate umbrellas open, red octopus arms rise from the ground, cupped nests with eggs appear."This is a beautifully illustrated book - naming and showing various mushrooms that share our natural world.
Reading this book felt like watching a symphony - a few mushrooms to start then a cacophony of species. Spellbinding.
"Bizarre blooms with strange scents - some like bubble gum, coconut, maple syrup...others, the stench of burnt hair, rotten cabbage, or animals long dead.
The color palette was mesmerizing and I had a lot of fun seeing all the variations on this species.
But that being said, I do wish there was a bit more to the book. Narrative or descriptions could have been in the main body of the book. It just felt like it was missing that extra 'oomph' that really would have pushed it to four or five stars.
There was a bit more info towards the back of the book...but I still felt like it needed more.
April 27, 2022
The concise text does a wonderful job educating the reader about mushrooms. Illustrations are lush and beautiful. Backmatter has additional FUN-gi facts. There aren't any mushroom puns in the whole book! Five stars.
January 2, 2023
Caught my eye with the gorgeous illustrations! The storytelling was as charming as each page’s full-width renditions of mushrooms. Additional fun facts at the end of the book. My favorite pages where those who described what different mushrooms can smell like.
June 3, 2022
Fascinating, gorgeous, and educational! Definitely add this book to your STEM shelf.
September 23, 2022
Rating: 5 leaves out of 5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Children
Type: Book
Worth?: Yes!
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Children
Type: Book
Worth?: Yes!
May 24, 2024
the art style >>>
Read
June 9, 2022Both fascinating and beautiful, lyrical nonfiction with plenty of backmatter.
August 2, 2023
(5.0) I DO LOVE MUSHROOMS and surprisingly this book provides me with SO MANY mesmerizing arts of pretty mushrooms!
There is also small trivia about part of the mushroom, where do they live, who likes to eat mushrooms etc. that turned me with “OMG best book!” and I think every pages are very worthy for children and even adults like meee!
All in all, beautiful and insightful artwork! I really wish I could read it physically on my hands :’) Good job!
There is also small trivia about part of the mushroom, where do they live, who likes to eat mushrooms etc. that turned me with “OMG best book!” and I think every pages are very worthy for children and even adults like meee!
All in all, beautiful and insightful artwork! I really wish I could read it physically on my hands :’) Good job!
May 9, 2025
Learn about how mushrooms appear and disappear through their lifecycle. This beautifully illustrated book discusses how mushrooms are strange but how they're familiar too. It encourages young readers to explore nature, though safely, and engage with the world with curiosity and wonder.
Really, a delightful book to read on a rainy day.
Really, a delightful book to read on a rainy day.
July 19, 2023
I LOVED this book. The pictures are super whimsical, magical, and beautiful…but it’s so gorgeously informative too. I learned so much about mushrooms, the spores that collect raindrops in the clouds, and so much more. The kids asked a zillion questions while reading the book too - which to me is a sign of a good book because it makes them think and view the world differently. 5/5 stars.
April 14, 2022
What an incredibly beautiful book.
June 16, 2022
I listened to this book as an audiobook and feel more informed about mushrooms and their purpose! 🍄🤘
November 14, 2022
This book is absolutely lovely! (And very informative too!)
December 24, 2022
MUSHROOM RAIN. One of the most beautiful items in my possession. An enchanting look into the specialness of various mushrooms told through a storybook.
March 20, 2023
Did you know that mushroom spores seed clouds, and cause rain? I did not before today.
May 24, 2023
Equal parts stunning and informative. This is exactly how I like to read non-fiction. Lyrical prose, lovely art, and fascinating facts.
October 16, 2024
Fabulous illustrations and such a fun angle on how mushroom spores help contribute to cloud formation and rain.
October 28, 2024
drop dead gorgeous illustration, text was severely lacking 😭😭😭😭 but omg absolutely lush color pallete & whimsical take on shrooms
July 13, 2022
A beautiful children's educational book about mushrooms.
January 10, 2024
An eye pleasing way to learn about the mushroom's cycle during the rainy season
August 9, 2024
The kind of picture book you want to climb into and live inside 🍄☔️
April 7, 2022
This is a beautiful book in picture and prose alike. The cover is one of the most enchanting I've seen in a long time, and the artwork delivers a fascinating variety of colors, shapes, and mood throughout. And the text itself is excellent: simultaneously informative and engaging, poetic and sparse, the author boils a lot of information down into a lovely, highly digestible brew for any age.
The only reason I didn't give this book a full 5 stars is because I thought the whole thing would be about the phenomenon of "mushroom rain", in which mushroom spores seed rainclouds, whose drops in turn deposit spores upon the earth. Taking the exquisite cover and title together, I was expecting a book that looked more widely at a beautiful natural environment replete with mushrooms, then at the sky, then at the rain, and finally at the mushrooms blooming once more. Instead, this book examines mushrooms on their own basis, and only really brings in the rain phenomenon at the very end. Lots of closeup illustrations throughout limit the field of view from what could have been pretty magnificent woodland vistas, and, in turn, the text zooms in on what mushrooms are, how they grow, and how they're used within their environments. All that said, however, this book is worthy of any mycophile's admiration, and is absolutely lovely all around.
The only reason I didn't give this book a full 5 stars is because I thought the whole thing would be about the phenomenon of "mushroom rain", in which mushroom spores seed rainclouds, whose drops in turn deposit spores upon the earth. Taking the exquisite cover and title together, I was expecting a book that looked more widely at a beautiful natural environment replete with mushrooms, then at the sky, then at the rain, and finally at the mushrooms blooming once more. Instead, this book examines mushrooms on their own basis, and only really brings in the rain phenomenon at the very end. Lots of closeup illustrations throughout limit the field of view from what could have been pretty magnificent woodland vistas, and, in turn, the text zooms in on what mushrooms are, how they grow, and how they're used within their environments. All that said, however, this book is worthy of any mycophile's admiration, and is absolutely lovely all around.
March 18, 2022
As a child, I loved mushrooms--the magical fairy world mushrooms, mushroom varieties in the produce section, and the delicious mushrooms on my pizza. As an adult, I love them even more. I enjoyed reading MUSHROOM RAIN and learning a plethora of fascinating facts. Laura Zimmerman's lyrical text takes the reader into a world that can easily go unnoticed. Yet, it bursts with life! Bizarre blooms and strange scents attract visitors that chomp, scrape, gnaw and burrow. Jamie Green's magical illustrations bring the mushrooms and the visitors to life in drawings of this otherworldly habitat. I am often fascinated by how quickly mushrooms can pop up and spread on the ground, but I never thought about scattered spores transported to rain clouds and reemerging through rain droplets. My favorite kind of rain is a sun shower when the rain falls when the sun is still shining. I will now wonder when it rains if it is in fact a mushroom rain.
Want to read
February 10, 2022Oh my! I wanted to leave a professional review but I'm afraid this will be gushing...
It's beautiful! The text is enchanting, the illustrations bewitching. The story is simple and clear enough to keep even the youngest lap-readers entertained while the back matter will enthrall independent artists and scientists alike.
Not only is it a delight to read just for fun, this book is a dream for anybody working with kids in education as well. As a homeschooler, it's hard to find age-appropriate books on kingdoms beyond plants and animals for the elementary school years. It would be easy to use this book as an intro into a unit on the fungi kingdom or as a multi-subject unit incorporating weather cycles and biomes. There's even an art project in the back!
It's beautiful! The text is enchanting, the illustrations bewitching. The story is simple and clear enough to keep even the youngest lap-readers entertained while the back matter will enthrall independent artists and scientists alike.
Not only is it a delight to read just for fun, this book is a dream for anybody working with kids in education as well. As a homeschooler, it's hard to find age-appropriate books on kingdoms beyond plants and animals for the elementary school years. It would be easy to use this book as an intro into a unit on the fungi kingdom or as a multi-subject unit incorporating weather cycles and biomes. There's even an art project in the back!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews