MONTY AND THE MUSHROOMS

A boisterous bunch of fungi drive a peaceful marmot from his underground home.

“As everyone knows, mushrooms are LOUD.” Mushrooms “gossip all day and argue all night.” They tell jokes and long stories and “sing long, loud songs about how great it is to be a mushroom.” And when some mushroom spores blow over to Monty the marmot’s home, they annoy the heck out of him. Delightful details in the illustrations show Monty’s dedication to a quiet lifestyle: When readers first meet him, he’s curled up with a blanket, reading The Art of Putting Boats in Things, and later he works on a model boat. The friendly, oblivious mushrooms test his patience by putting on a raucous puppet show under the light of a full moon. Monty tries to talk to them (“Nature is all about communication”), but they’re unable to provide even 10 seconds of respite. So Monty decides to move out…and in a laugh-out-loud twist ending, some new creatures move in. The layout includes full-bleed page spreads as well as comiclike panels, and one inventive 90-degree page turn. The noisy mushrooms are varied in appearance, with cartoonishly large grins; Monty’s mounting frustration is evidenced by expressive eyebrows and motion lines. The rhyming song that the mushrooms sing is an especially funny touch, and readers will cheer as the fungi get their comeuppance at last.

Certain to deliver giggles aplenty.