Katya’s Book of Mushrooms- a book review

This fall I taught our local homeschool co-op STEAM class and focused on fungi. I borrowed every book that I could get my hands on from our local library and requested an extra dozen. I was pleasantly surprised by this book showing up on my shelf, Katya’s Book of Mushrooms, by Katya Arnold.

Katya’s Book of Mushrooms is a story of Katya’s passion and love for mushrooms and discovering them in the wild. Her book is not a field guide, so shouldn’t be consulted for foraging tips nor should it be used to identify mushrooms as edible or poisonous. Using delightful illustrations, drawn by the author, she tells mythological stories of her forest friends, and illuminates their ecological role there.

As a forager myself, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of information on morphology that is used to key out a mushroom identification, although it does not help with making any species suggestions. I think this is a good feature for the intended audience of children from 5-14, as they shouldn’t be making edibility judgements without an expert’s opinion.

This delightful book illustrates many commonly found mushrooms of North America, and yet has information from Russia, as that is where Katya Arnold was born and spent her early years.

I highly recommend Katya’s Book of Mushrooms for science units to introduce a child to fungi and instill increased awareness of the presence of mushrooms around us in nature.

The Big Book of the Blue- a book review

It comes as no surprise that my children love to read, given how much hubby and I loved to as children. We read a lot as homeschoolers and my standards are high for the books I love. I recently stumbled upon a book that was out on display in our local library called, The Big Book of the Blue, by Yuval Zommer. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of work therein.

The Big Book of the Blue is directed towards children of the ages 6-14. The illustrations in the book are magnificent and scientifically educated. Although they are still meant to be artistically illustrative, they are not glaringly wrong, as I have found in many other non-fiction illustrations. And the illustrations really are the star here.

The Big Book of the Blue is an introduction to the ecosystems of the ocean with short informative and interesting facts about the various featured animals. I highly recommend it for supplementing oceanic portions of science curriculum. I believe it will develop a love for the ocean and the animals that live in it while fostering care for its inhabitants and their health.

Situational Quiz; with Facebook application

You go grocery shopping and see someone you are friends or acquaintances with. They having a conversation with someone else you don’t know about something that you overhear and have an opinion on. Do you…

1. Approach the two and interject your opinion, forcefully or not.
2. Quietly go about your business, and maybe acknowledge your friend with a nod, smile, salute or thumbs up, as you pass by.
3. Try your best not to listen to the conversation.

Do you know which of the above answers are correct, follows etiquette and socially acceptable?

If you answered A, you are in the wrong. This is considered rude behavior and unless you see that they are harassing your friend or belittling them, you have no right to come into their conversation unless you see your friend specifically call you to them by name.

If you answered B, this is considered proper behavior if you are more than acquaintances and are actually good friends with the person you see. By good friends, we mean that you actually talk face-to-face or on the phone within the year about things not shared with the general population.

If you answered C, this is considered proper behavior for everyone who doesn’t fit in the B category.

The truth is, this quiz IS about Facebook. I am sorry that Facebook is so rude as to lay out other people’s conversations between them and another friend which isn’t a mutual friend where you can see it. But please, do NOT interject your opinion on these posts if you can help it.