Spot the Difference: Mushroom Rain

Guest Blog Post by Laura Zimmermann

Mushroom Rain began with a story that had nothing to do with rain and everything to do with Beatrix Potter’s research on mushrooms. Without Beatrix, I would not have known how weird and wonderful the kingdom of fungi is. As a result, I likely wouldn’t have paid much attention to the article on the connection between spores and rain that appeared in my inbox. But I did, and Mushroom Rain began, starting with text on mushrooms I had written for my unpublished picture book biography on Beatrix Potter.

I wrote several variations of Mushroom Rain. Some iterations, were quite different, but in the end, it was the original version that sold. The table below shows the changes to sections recycled from the unpublished Potter book, including one of the early drafts, the version that was purchased, and the text that went to press. 

Beatrix Potter PB Bio	Early Draft	Purchased	Final
Beatrix thought toadstools must have a hidden form,  sheltered and secretly wandering.	Beneath is a hidden form that spreads, sheltered and secretly wandering.	For beneath the blooms, a hidden form spreads, sheltered and secretly wandering.	For beneath a mushroom’s bloom, a hidden form reaches out,  sheltered and secretly wandering.
She hypothesized that their scattered spores, spread like seeds from a flower, grew into this hidden form. Beatrix watched the spores stretch into tiny threads that branched into many,  packing tightly together,  as they grew into toadstools’ hidden form.	Mushrooms scatter spores, spread like seeds from a flower, that settle on the forest floor, stretching into tiny threads that branch into many,  packing tightly together,  they become mushrooms’ hidden form.	Blooms cast mushrooms even farther, when scattered spores like flower’s seeds, settle on the forest floor. Tiny threads grow out and branch into many. Packing tightly together, they become a new hidden form.	Blooms cast new mushrooms even farther, when scattered spores like flower’s seeds, settle on the forest floor. Tiny threads too small to see branch out, growing bigger… they pack together, and rise.

The revisions made after the text was purchased by Sleeping Bear Press mainly focused on the melding of illustrations and words and making sure the phrasing was as accurate as possible. I was fortunate to have a wonderful team to help me get there. 

All books follow their own path. Some change so much it can be hard to recognize the early drafts. Others stay more consistent, with shifts focused more on word choice and phrasing. In the case of Mushroom Rain, the version that sold was quite similar to where the story began. Sometimes small changes are all that are needed to get your book to the place it is meant to be. Of course, small doesn’t necessarily mean fast. Getting the wording for Mushroom Rain clear, accurate, and flowing with the artwork required more time than the example above may suggest. We were still making small adjustments in text and illustrations right up to the week it went to press.

You can buy Laura K. Zimmermann's book here.

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Laura K. Zimmermann is a college professor by day and children’s writer by night. She has a PhD in developmental psychology and has published numerous academic articles as well as nonfiction stories in children’s magazines. MUSHROOM RAIN is her first picture book. When she’s not writing, Laura can be found teaching and conducting research at Shenandoah University or wandering through nature with her Goldendoodle, Tivy. Online you can find her at @LauraK_PBwriter on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

She is represented by Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez at Bradford Literary Agency.