Don’t Cry, Amanita

Little Katařina lives in a forest cottage with her father, a gamekeeper, from whom she has inherited a deep love of nature. She wanders freely throughout the woodlands, closely and curiously examining the trees, moss, water, grass, mushrooms, and little forest creatures that become the heroes of individual stories. In short chapters, readers learn about lizards, doves, mushrooms, dormice, ants, warblers, and even meet a few old friends (such as a curious little squirrel and a hare), but most of all, they befriend a wide-eyed little girl who is full of questions and good ideas.

Painter, illustrator and author of many children’s books, Daisy Mrázková, subtitled this book A Little Book About Big Things. It showcases her unmistakable style as she introduces children to a world they are just beginning to discover, and features plenty of delightful word play and imaginative verbal combinations. Forests rustle, lizards gulp down bugs, mushrooms dance, and the world is full of things to discover.