ADVENTURE IN BOOKS REVIEW: The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron
As the weather begins to cool in the North we try to find reasons to get inside other than in the van. This is where Thrift shops really come in handy for cheap entertainment. Let me tell you about this little piece of gold I found for a dollar recently in some little Midwest town Thrift shop. You know the kind... a disorganized hodge podge of treasures you might discover in your grandpa's attic. What caught my eye immediately was this dust covered hardback children's novel. The front of the book was vibrant and showed two young boys following a green alien through a forest of mushrooms. I quickly thumbed through to the copywrite date of 1954. Clutching it to my chest I knew I had found riches.
The title of the book is The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron and everything about the presentation of this book down to it's old book smell screamed for me to not leave it buried in the basement of this store. We found a quiet and secluded campsite that night among the trees and I cozied up inside my sleeping bag and devoured every word. It was a true adventure along with beautiful illustrations to help fuel the imagination.
The story orbits around a young boy who is shown an ad in the paper stating that someone needs a spaceship built quickly. Taking on this task with a friend he finds himself on a mission of a lifetime to help the inhabitants of planet Basidium only 50,000 miles from Earth. They must go alone with the only exception being a mascot. So the two boys and a pet chicken head out into the great unknown to solve a mystery that could change the fate of the mushroom planet forever.
As the plot brewed into the night I noted greasy finger prints on many pages and I couldn't help but be transported to a past human not able to put this book down while slurping down a pepperoni with extra cheese. I understood and I followed those orange blotches of oil into the wee hours of the morning before closing the pages to one of the best adventures I have read in a while.
I give this book a solid 5 stars. It's an easy read and it will leave you with a light heart and a warm reminder of what it is like to be a kid again. We could all use that. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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