Review of Fungi of Aotearoa: A Curious Forager’s Field Guide – Liv Sisson

The complete introduction to finding, identifying and using mushrooms and other fungi in New Zealand

Enter and explore the fascinating world of fungi.

In this practical and up-to-date guide, forager and fungus enthusiast Liv Sisson shares her top tips and takes the reader on a journey to discover the unique and diverse fungi Aotearoa has to offer.

Discover how to identify the best edible varieties, and how to cook with them, how these incredible organisms have shaped the world as we know it, and the role they are playing in modern medical and environmental research.

Featuring stunning full-colour photographs, fun facts and current descriptions of over 130 species (including our brilliant blue national fungus, werewere kokako), Fungi of Aotearoa is packed full of information and advice that will delight armchair enthusiasts, backcountry explorers and budding experts alike.

Fungi of Aotearoa: A Curious Forager’s Field Guide

Liv Sisson

Penguin

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

I think I have discovered a third category of practical non-fiction where it is absolutely essential to try to get locally published books. Which is foraging in general, and foraging for fungi in particular. I’ve personally only ever foraged field mushrooms (possibly horse mushrooms) and that mostly from my own front lawn where we have a mature Totara tree. But when someone posted photos of fungi she’d found on her trees, I recognised them immediately as hakeke or woodears from the pictures in this book – they are that clear. And after looking up the page where I remembered seeing them, I could help her with suggestions for what to do with them (and confirm that they are good eats). There’s also a lot of other interesting information about hakeke, including its early economic value.

But that’s what this book contains; heaps of fascinating facts, gorgeous photography and descriptions of many of New Zealand’s weird and wonderful fungi. It’s not exhaustive – another mushroom a friend found in Thames, which I was able to identify as agaricus augustus (the Prince mushroom) with the aid of various websites, was not included (to my surprise).

It was so refreshing to see a book on this kind of subject that values both tradition and modern scientific knowledge. Balancing the objective and subjective is always difficult, and there may be a few slight inaccuracies, but that does not detract from a very well-researched work. The author makes the subject approachable and is always encouraging (except when it comes to the consumption of those fungi which, in the words of Sir Terry, you can only eat once). Everything is here, how to understand New Zealand fungi, how to find them, recognise them, and photograph them. Highly recommended.

Review of The Living World – Rachel Rohloff

The Living World

Rachel Rohloff

New Shoots Publishing

Supplied by Fantail Communications

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement, the greatest source of visual beauty, the greatest source of intellectual interest.  It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” David Attenborough

This is a fantastic resource book for teachers and parents eager to teach children about science and nature with hands-on learning and play.

“Knowledge gained through experience is far superior and many times more useful than bookish knowledge.”  Mahatma Ghandi
The introduction explains how this resource develops science skills and how it uses hands-on fun and play to make sense of the Living World.  All activities in this book involve at least one of the 22 pattern/urges of play and details what they are.  Children learn from experience and the eleven scientific skills they will gain are listed – Observation, Communication, Classification, Measurement, Inference, Predictions, Making Hypotheses, Recording, Experimenting, Analysing, Evaluating – and defined.

The book is divided into four chapters;

• What is the Living World
• Plants
• Animals
• People

There is a list of activities at the beginning of each, along with equipment and supplies needed, learning outcomes, a list of scientific vocabulary and skills gained from the experiments, ideas for further activities, and teaching tips.

The photos are stunning and the book is well laid out, with information and instructions easy to find and understand. You can also download worksheets for the activities in the book from www.newshootspublishing.co.nz.

The book itself is printed on environmentally responsible paper and it’s awesome that a book about nature is sustainable.  I love all the quotes scattered throughout the text.  “To reconnect with nature is key if we want to save the planet” Jane Goodall.

This book needs to be in every educator or homeschooling parent’s resource kit.

Review of The Lost Pianos of Siberia – Sophy Roberts

Fusing history, nature writing and travelogue, The Lost Pianos of Siberia is a captivating exploration of an extraordinary and largely unknown part of the world and its unexpected musical legacy.

Siberia’s story is traditionally one of exiles, penal colonies and unmarked graves. Yet there is another tale to tell.

Dotted throughout this remote land are pianos – grand instruments created during the boom years of the Nineteenth Century, and humble, Soviet-made uprights that found their way into equally modest homes. They tell the story of how, ever since entering Russian culture under the influence of Catherine the Great, piano music has run through the country like blood.

How these pianos travelled into this snow-bound wilderness in the first place is testament to noble acts of fortitude by governors, adventurers and exiles. That stately instruments might still exist in such a hostile landscape is remarkable. That they are still capable of making music in far-flung villages is nothing less than a miracle.

But this is Siberia, where people can endure the worst of the world — and where music reveals a deep humanity in the last place on earth you would expect to find it.

The Lost Pianos of Siberia

Sophy Roberts

Doubleday

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Stephen Litten

Cultural history can follow some odd paths, and on the surface of it, The Lost Pianos of Siberia is certainly setting off on an odd path. Ask most people about Siberia, and they will mention cold, vastness, cold, isolation, cold, and exiles. Did I mention the cold? The genesis of the book is given toward the end of chapter one. The author sets herself the task of finding a piano for a Mongolian prodigy. A truly British piece of eccentricity. Thus, begins a chase covered in the following 12 chapters and epilogue.

Roberts tells the story of pianos in Siberia in 3 acts: Tsarist, Soviet, and post-communism. But why pianos? Russia in whatever guise was as afflicted by piano mania as every European (and pretender) country. Pianos usually bear serial numbers, making proving provenance possible. Pianos were a powerful cultural icon, denoting civilisation. Many countries, including Russia, had thriving piano-manufacturing industries. Russia, off many people’s cultural radar since the Bolshevik Revolution, was a stop of importance during the time of the tsars.

Roberts follows the advance of Russian influence and the march of events. Each chapter has a small map showing locations mentioned at its beginning, thus reducing the immensity of Siberia to a more human scale. But more than a story of pianos, this is a story of people; those who chose Siberia, or more frequently had Siberia chosen for them. The pianos came by sled, by boat, by train, by plane. They were the property of governors, exiles, free settlers, merchants, the military, the state, and evacuees. And like the people, the climate and conditions in Siberia killed more than a few.

Naturally, there is a New Zealand connection. The skipper of the boat taking Sophy and a group of birders around the Commander and Kuril Islands is a Kiwi.

Roberts has told an excellent story here. It encompasses the nature of Russia and Siberia, along with the quintessential cast of characters that are Russians in their full idiosyncratic glory. This is a book that both satisfies and encourages wanderlust. Read it.

Thanks to Penguin Random House for the review copy.