Description
Search for a Mysterious Mushroom: Pick Your Path
Science Explorers series by Amy Seto Forrester and Andy Chou Musser
Turn your young reader into a real field scientist.
Deep in the remote tropical forests of the world grows a tiny, spiny mushroom that very few scientists have ever collected: Amparoina spinosissima. Nobody knows all the places it grows or whether any animals eat it. Now your child joins the expedition team to help find it.
This is a pick your path adventure, so the reader makes the decisions. Choose your research assistant, pack your field gear (drone or climbing ropes?), pick your expedition site in Ecuador, Hawai’i or India, then decide which trail to follow when the path is blocked or the GPS stops working. Some choices lead to the mysterious mushroom. Others lead to elephant dung fungi, giant otters, lion-tailed macaques or a broken microscope. Every path teaches something real, and kids will want to go back and try again until they find it.
What makes it a brilliant learning tool
Real science, explained simply. Kids learn why fungi are neither plants nor animals but their own kingdom, how mycelium and hyphae work, what spores do, and the three ways fungi feed (decomposers, mutualists and parasites).
How scientists actually work. The book follows the full research process: planning, packing field gear, collecting specimens, studying morphology under a microscope, and drying, extracting and sequencing DNA to confirm an identification.
Science careers made visible. Readers meet a mycologist, botanist, park naturalist, fungal taxonomist and research assistant, each explaining what they do.
Decision making and problem solving. Every choice has consequences, which builds critical thinking and resilience. A “wrong” turn still ends with a discovery.
Vocabulary built in. New words come with easy pronunciation guides, plus a full glossary at the back covering terms like ecosystem, habitat, substrate, endangered and native species.
Respect for land and knowledge. The expedition partners with local Indigenous scientists and treats the team as guests on Indigenous lands, a thoughtful message for young explorers. The book also reminds kids to always check with a grown-up before collecting fungi.
Back matter for curious minds. A reference list of every fungus, animal and plant in the book, fun facts (glowing fungi, flower lookalikes, DNA that lasts over 100 years) and a further reading list.
Age recommendation
Best for ages 6 to 9 (roughly Year 1 to Year 4). Confident readers aged 7 to 10 will happily tackle it on their own, while younger children love it as a shared read aloud where they get to call the shots. A perfect pick for budding naturalists, nature table kids, homeschoolers and classroom libraries.
Why parents and teachers love it
It turns screen-free reading into an active game, sparks curiosity about the natural world, and quietly teaches the scientific method along the way. Developed with input from mycologists at universities and botanic gardens around the world, and supported by a National Science Foundation grant, so the science is solid.
Check out our Mycology Books to learn more about this Fantastic Fungi World
