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THE FUNGUS THAT ATE MY SCHOOL
by Arthur Dorros,
illustrated by David Catrow
(Scholastic, 2000)
Ordering Information
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A group of children returns to school after a rainy spring vacation
to find that a slimy green, yellow and purple fuzz is covering
everything, even the principal's office. IT's a fungus! But where did
IT come from, and how can they get rid of IT?
Reviews
"When three young scientists leave a fungus experiment unattended over a
wet and rainy spring vacation, [they] return to discover that an
insatiable uber-fungus has taken over the school, devouring (and
mocking) everything in its slimy path. While Dorros tells this picture
book parody of a sci-fi thriller with relative restraint and sly humor,
Catrow's wildly Seussian illustrations burst off the pages. Run for
your lives!"--The Horn Book
"Dorros's hyperbolic romp is unapologetically silly."--Publishers Weekly
Author's note: the story behind the story
In the part of the country where I live, the Pacific Northwest, the
conditions are often right for fungi to grow. A fungus got my shoe,
another started eating its way through my clothes, and there's a fungus
in our basement--my son has been growing it. (That one is contained,
though it's eaten its way through a metal bowl.) Fungi can take many
forms, from wispy and cotton-like to slimy, slithery masses. With
moisture and a little something for nutrition, a fungus can get growing.
Fungus can be serious business. But not in this book. This is a fungus
like neither you, nor I, has ever seen before. It has a mind of its
own, and the illustrator even has it wearing a cowboy hat as it takes
off.
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