While she has been illustrating children’s books for at least a decade, I first took note of Diana Sudyka in 2020 with How to Find a Bird, written by Jennifer Ward. Like many others, I started hiking as a pandemic pastime, and these hikes naturally led to my wanting to identify the flora and fauna I saw. Ward’s book was a highly approachable and perfectly timed introduction to birdwatching, largely due to Sudyka’s illustrations. Rendered in watercolor and gouache, Sudyka’s bold and bright illustrations blend a folk-art sensibility with enough scientific detail to make her subject identifiable to a budding naturalist. The book was more fun to read than a typical guidebook, and yet each bird was labeled and recognizable in a field guide-esque way.

This year we are lucky to have two picture books illustrated by Diana Sudyka, both getting Calling Caldecott attention and both featuring the natural world. Scot Smith wrote about Little Land in October, and I’m here to discuss Fungi Grow, written by Maria Gianferrari. Sudyka’s cover illustration delivers on the title’s promise with an explosion of mushrooms and a rabbit looking at home in the heap. We are clearly getting a book on fungi, and they definitely seem to be growing! The red-and-white dappled endpapers continue the theme using the iconic toadstool pattern that so often telegraphs “mushroom.” 

The book opens with a decoratively framed spot illustration of a mushroom and what will become the refrain of the book, “Fungi grow.” Sudyka moves us out from this frame with a burst of spores that travel to full-page illustrations showing the myriad ways spores can disperse. Here Sudyka puts her distinctive hand-drawn lettering to great effect. Her illustrated typography really stands out on the double-page spread of spore dispersal, where the illustrations match onomatopoeic words like “POOF” and “PLOP.” You can practically smell the “PEE-EW!” of the stinkhorn mushrooms, with flies and odor lines surrounding the wavy gray letters. 

Sudyka continues this pattern of ornately framing a single concept (spore dispersal, mycelial rooting and networking) before branching into full-page illustrations that provide a bigger picture. For these, Sudyka takes us underground and then into whole forests. The framing motif works well, letting the reader pause, take a breath, and focus, before the expansive exhale of the larger spreads. Sudyka’s choice of medium gives the illustrations an appropriate lushness. I also appreciate the creatures hiding among the fungi, showing the interconnectedness of the natural world and making it fun to explore the smaller details in the art.    

Sudyka, whose website states that she is “inspired by a passion for nature and science,” is clearly in her element with this book. She was exactly the right illustrator for Fungi Grow. Her meticulous research is evident, and her illustrations convey her passion for nature. Looking at the Caldecott criteria, I can say for certain that the artistic execution is excellent, as is the pictorial interpretation and presentation. I hope the Caldecott committee has noticed and will reward her for her excellence.

[Read The Horn Book Magazine review of Fungi Grow]