I Love You So Mush!

Danielle McLean is a children’s book writer and editor, living in London. She is mom to Olive and Henry, who are her biggest fans, and who love books as much as she does. She’s written books about a lot of fun things like magical mermicorns, mysterious sparkly poop, friendly fungi, and much, much more.Beatrice was born and raised in Bologna, Italy, where she still lives and works as a freelance illustrator, author, and visual artist. She lives with a sassy, chubby black cat named Lapo, who often appears in her works, sometimes as the star, sometimes as a photobomber. Music is an integral part of Beatrice’s personal and professional life, and since the age of 19, she has been a DJ, constantly growing her vinyl collection.

Adorable forest fungi with cartoonish faces extol friendship in all its variety in this colorful, sweet board book. Anchored by the refrain “I really love you oh-so-MUSH!,” each two-page spread features a different mushroom, with the toadstool narrator describing what makes them such a good friend—a wobbly group of yellow slime molds “make the forest groove”; party-starting bioluminescent mushrooms “glow all through the night.” There’s no background information about mushrooms (or admonishment about touching wild mushrooms without adult permission), but the undeniably cute artwork and positive message about friendship will likely draw kids in.--Booklist