THE FUNGUS THAT ATE MY SCHOOL

A science project literally mushrooms out of control in this wildly funny twist on a building problem common to more than a few schools. After a particularly rainy spring break, students and teachers walk unsuspectingly into a school that has been transformed into a fungal jungle, with pullulating masses of mottled `IT` covering everything from books to bulletin boards. Dorros (A Tree is Growing, 1997) tells the tale with pokerfaced brevity; Catrow (Rotten Teeth, 1998), coloring Seussian tangles of tentacled fuzz with garish splashes of reds, greens and purples, creates scenes of unbridled chaos in each room from lunch area to library. What to do? `IT` stands no chance once the local sanitation department's Fungus Unit rushes in, armed with scrapers and bottles of `Fungo Fast.` It all ends on a happy, even triumphant note, as the school is quickly restored to normal—and the responsible science project even wins a Golden Moldy award from the Museum of Fungus and Industry. There's a lesson here somewhere . . . well, maybe not. (Picture book. 79)