The Fungus That Ate My School - Softcover

Dorros's (Abuela; Rain Forest Secrets) hyperbolic romp is unapologetically silly, the stuff of B movies. During a particularly damp spring break, a science-class mold experiment outgrows its jar. Three elementary schoolers return from vacation to find an amorphous algae-green shape dominating the lab and library. The giant slimy thing seems to pose no threat to humans, but its purple-splotched feelers, orange-striped tentacles and hairy cilia grope the brackish schoolyard. Part of the huge organism sits at the principal's desk, waving a tardy slip in a rakish caricature; another portion works in the cafeteria, where a chalkboard menu offers "tuna leucocephalum" and "peaches sporangia." The slender plot gets lots of help from Catrow (She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head!), who turns a quaint schoolhouse into a little shop of horrors. Dr. Seuss's influence can be seen in Catrow's squiggly line drawings, which feature mushroom-like trees and eccentric characters; Catrow's own signature can be detected in the sickly pink and mossy green blotches of watercolor, which effectively gross out the audience. Good for plenty of yucks. Ages 5-8. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PreSchool-Grade 1-Mr. Harrison's science class is studying and growing various fungi in jars. Returning from a rainy spring break, the students discover that the mold has escaped from its container and spread throughout the leaking, closed-up building. Catrow's exuberant watercolor-and-gouache illustrations reveal the frisky fungus taking over the school: serving food in the cafeteria, answering the principal's phone, and devouring books in the library. The artwork's constant movement, humorous situations, and varying perspectives call for close examination; the story, however, is less than exciting. At the teacher's request, fungus-expert Professor Macademia not only rids the school of the unwanted parasite, but also declares it a "great discovery" for which Mr. Harrison and his class receive an award. The weak tale predictably ends with the teacher announcing, "No more fungus experiments-until next year." The humor comes from the pictures of the three-student school and its inhabitants, both human and thallophyte. An additional purchase at best.
Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.