The Mushroom and The Flower

The Mushroom and The Flower, written & illustrated by Sally Soweol Han (Thames & Hudson) PB AU$26.99 ISBN 978-1-760-76472-2

Reviewed by Robyn Gillies

Mushroom has the coolest hot pink hat with snow-white speckles and a velvety touch. Mushroom stands out in the forest of green and is, in Mushroom’s words, ‘A true masterpiece of nature…’.

Mushroom provides shelter and shade to the smallest of the forest’s creatures until one day something pokes up beside it. Mushroom is not happy about this thing being so close to him and asks it to ‘kindly move along’. But the thing continues to grow and bloom until it hogs Mushroom’s view. How will Mushroom manage this situation?

This is a tender allegory about feelings and friendship. The mushroom is chatty and doesn’t understand why the flower doesn’t speak or move farther away. The flower is different.

The core of the story is told in Mushroom's voice, but the reader also ‘hears’ the flower's thoughts, demonstrating to young readers that even the softest voices are valuable.

But this is also a story about friendship, that what may seem uncomfortable at first can bloom if you just give it time, emotional growth, and about a very special gift.

This story is told simply with language that the youngest audience would understand, but as an allegory, there are multiple layers which more mature young readers will also appreciate - that of the circle of life, the balance in a healthy forest, that even beautiful things don’t always last, and also of sacrifice.

 The story also reads well out loud, and as an award-winning illustrator for her first picture book, Tiny Wonders, Sally Han has again created illustrations that tell their own beautiful story.