Mushroom Center Disaster — N.M. Bodecker

N. M. Bodecker pens a “brief cautionary tale” that is “ahead of its time” as he warns readers of the dangers of litter through havoc wrecked on a mushroom community by the remains of a picnic (Publishers Weekly). Though a little bit of trash leftover from a picnic might not seem too bad to many, it was the beginning of a disaster for The Mushroom Center. Coming together to help their neighbors in the grass, Beetle and his friends devise a plan to turn bad fortune into progress. Important and timely issues of littering and recycling, as well as cooperative community-building are illuminated by Bodecker and Blegvad’s imaginations on the pages of The Mushroom Center Disaster. With a glorious sense of balance for the absurd and the just, this endearing picture book shares firsthand knowledge of country living and environment preservation.