The Wonder of Mushrooms

“Beautiful, beguiling book… The Wonder of Mushrooms is an informative, charming introduction to the kingdom of fungi.”
—Rebecca Foster, Foreword Reviews

“This delightful marriage of fungal poetry and fungal watercolors is the perfect gift for the beginning mycophile, be that individual a child, an adult, or even an elder. May the fungi be with you, it eagerly declares, and if you purchase the book, they will indeed be with you!”
—Lawrence Millman, author of Fungipedia

“The Wonder of Mushrooms shows us the world of mushrooms through a poet’s eyes and with the magic of a painter’s strokes. Each line in this book contains astonishing science and lyrical beauty…. This book is the kind of delight you might find at the center of a fairy ring.”
—Kathryn Nuernberger, author of HELD: Essays in Belonging

“This marvelous new book guides us through the enchanted territory that literature and mycology share. Zeller’s precise yet poetic language emphasizes the otherworldliness of the fungal kingdom; lovely watercolor illustrations by Jenny deFouw Geuder likewise balance the scientific with the mystical. I recommend The Wonder of Mushrooms to readers of all ages—as long as they’re willing to be carried away.”
—Lesley Wheeler, author of Mycocosmic

Maya Jewell Zeller is the author of the poetry collection Out Takes/Glove Box, as well as the interdisciplinary collaboration Alchemy for Cells & Other Beasts, and co-author of Advanced Poetry: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology. When she’s not teaching, Maya tromps around the Pacific Northwest forests and fields, floats the river on her paddle board, and embarks on various adventures with her two children.

Jenny deFouw Geuder is an artist and educator from Michigan. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art education, minoring in English. She has always loved nature and being outdoors, especially gardening and hiking. Over time, she began sketching the objects she discovered outside. After buying a bird feeder, she was charmed by the many visitors. That one bird feeder grew to eight, along with multiple bird baths. As she immersed herself in bird watching, she started fine-tuning her garden by introducing native plants that benefited birds and other wildlife.

By day, Jenny has taught art at the middle-school level for nearly 20 years. Each year, she includes an art lesson and project based on the famous prints of John James Audubon. Jenny emulated this work at home, beginning to paint her backyard finds, from leaves and flowers to birds. This soon became one of her favourite pastimes. She loves observing, and found herself constantly learning more about the subjects of her paintings. To record those discoveries, she started taking notes about her observations, a process that led naturally to her debut book, Drawn to Birds. She has continued her own artistic interests in commissioned work and personal topics. She primarily works in watercolour, but she also enjoys oils, ceramics, and graphite.

Artists are professional observers who tend to see things differently, focusing on colors and shapes, textures or lines. But a person doesn’t need to be a professionally trained artist to observe like one—or to make their own art. In fact, if her book projects have taught Jenny anything, it’s that naturalists are a lot like artists in that they look more closely at the world and recognize all of the diversity that nature has to offer.

Jenny lives in the country with her husband, two boys, a dog, five cats, a hedgehog, chickens, and occasionally two ponies. She spends most of her summers at a rustic log cabin on a lake in northern Michigan, where she hikes, fishes, and enjoys the natural beauty of the area.

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