Books | Author Doug Cooper Literary Thrillers

Five Fascinating Mushroom Facts: Forage Through “The Snail and The Butterfly” by Dougie Coop & CJ the Kid

The Perfect Blend of Adventure and Education for Young Minds

Mushrooms are fascinating organisms, and there’s so much to learn about them that’s sure to pique the interest of both children and adults. Here’s five mushroom facts to forage deeper into the world of mushrooms. Whether you’re an avid mycologist or simply love to get lost in an engaging picture book with your kids, “The Snail and The Butterfly” offers a heartwarming and educational journey for all.

Five Intriguing Mushroom Facts

1. Mushrooms are More Like Animals Than Plants

Surprisingly, mushrooms are more closely related to animals than plants. Their cell walls are made of chitin, the same material found in insect exoskeletons. For kids, it’s a fun twist to think of mushrooms as something in between plants and bugs!

2. Some Mushrooms Glow in the Dark

Bioluminescent mushrooms like the “Jack O’Lantern Mushroom” or “Ghost Fungi” can actually glow in the dark. Imagine taking a nighttime walk in the woods and stumbling upon a glowing mushroom. That’s sure to intrigue both kids and adults!

3. The Largest Organism on Earth is a Mushroom

The Armillaria ostoyae fungus in Eastern Oregon’s Malheur National Forest is estimated to be thousands of years old and spans over 2,385 acres. Imagine an underground web connecting mushrooms over a space as big as many cities!

4. Some Mushrooms Are Carnivorous

While most mushrooms are decomposers, some species like the ‘Oyster Mushroom’ can paralyze and consume tiny worms. That makes them the only vegan food that can consume meat.

5. Mushrooms Can “Communicate” Through Their Mycelium Network

Through their underground network of filaments, nutrients and chemical signals can be exchanged, almost like a subterranean internet. Their vocabulary is relatively small, estimated to be only 50 words with 15-20 used frequently. Interestingly, the fungal words are similar in length to human words!

How “The Snail and The Butterfly” Fits Into the Mushroom World

Written by award-winning author Doug Cooper aka Dougie Coop, and illustrated by acclaimed Australian artist CJ the Kid, The Snail and The Butterfly introduces young readers to a world where belief, trust, and perseverance reign supreme. Available on Amazon US and published by Rare Bird Books, the story explores themes that align perfectly with the awe-inspiring world of mushrooms. The snail’s quest to soar from the top of a mushroom adds an extra layer of magic, making it a truly inspirational children’s book.

Unlock the Magic Of Mushrooms to Inspire Wonder & Curiosity

Mushrooms have always been a part of human storytelling. Teaching children how mushrooms have inspired stories can be an enchanting way to connect nature and literature. Whether it’s their unexpected biological connections, their mystical glow, their potential environmental superpowers, or their status as ancient giants, these mushroom facts are full of surprises. They’re a gateway to exploring biology, ecology, mythology, and even philosophy. The Snail and The Butterfly makes for an excellent companion on this exploratory journey. For children captivated by the magical world of fungi, this book is a must-read!

Focus Lost

Now Available For Pre-Order Wherever Books Are Sold

Release Date: April 16, 2019 by Rare Bird Books

The line between passion and obsession runs through us all.

Levi Combs never planned to rocket to stardom.

Eva Florez knew he would the moment she saw him.

Gabe Adams didn’t want anything to do with celebrities.

But after Gabe’s sister sells his photos of Levi with a young starlet to a tabloid website, their lives become intertwined forever, bound by rage and retribution.

Blending the nuance and insight of literary fiction with the big-screen magic of a Hollywood thriller, Focus Lost whisks readers into a world of temptation, indulgence, and revenge, daring them to take a bite of the forbidden fruit.

The Investment Club

THE INVESTMENT CLUB

A Silver IPPY and International Book Award for Literary Fiction Winner and Finalist for Best Book New Fiction Award and Red City Review Award for Literary Fiction!

Now available wherever books are sold from Rare Bird Books!

Forty million people visit Vegas every year but most never get past the strip. What about the people who live there? What brought them there? What keeps them there?

Told from the perspective of a seasoned blackjack dealer, The Investment Club tells the stories of a self-destructive, dwarf entrepreneur, a drug-addicted musical performer-turned-stripper, a retired, widowed New Jersey policeman, a bereaved, divorced female sportscaster, and a card-counting, former Catholic priest before and after their fateful meeting at the El Cortez Casino in downtown Vegas.

As the five learn to help and accept help from one another, their lives stabilize and take on new, positive directions. But their love and support for each other can take them only so far before they must determine the meaning and value of their own lives.

Buzz

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Outside In

OUTSIDE IN

Winner of the 2014 International Book Award for Literary Fiction, 2014 USA Book News Award for Literary Fiction, and a Bronze IPPY!

From Memorial Day until the student workers and tourists leave in the fall, the island community of Put-in-Bay, Ohio thrives on alcohol, drugs, sexual experimentation, and any other means of forgetting responsibilities. To Brad Shepherd—recently forced out of his job as a junior high math teacher after a student overdoses on his parent’s pain medication—it’s exactly the kind of place Brad’s looking for.

Allured by the comfort and acceptance of Haley, a forlorn, alcoholic bartender, Brad trades his academic responsibilities and sense of obligation for a bouncer’s flashlight and a pursuit of the endless summer. With his new roommate, and local drug dealer, Cinch Stevens, at his side, Brad becomes lost in a haze of excess and instant gratification filled with romantic conquests, late night excursions to special island hideaways, and a growing drug habit. Not even the hope from a blossoming relationship with Astrid, a bold and radiant Norwegian waitress, nor the mentoring from a mysterious mandolin player named Caldwell is enough to pull him out of his downward spiral. But as Labor Day approaches, the grim reality of his empty quest consumes him. With nowhere left to run or hide, Brad must accept that identity cannot be found or fabricated but emerges from within when one has the courage to let go.

A look at one man’s belated coming of age that’s equally funny, earnest, romantic, and lamenting, Doug Cooper’s debut novel explores the modern search for responsibility and identity, showing through the eyes of Brad Shepherd, how sometimes we understand who we truly are by becoming the person we’re not.

“Blake said the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom-but he never spent time in Put-in-Bay, where the pleasure-hungry hero of Doug Cooper’s Midwest saga Outside In goes to forget himself and refind his wild side. For this debut novel, Cooper has fashioned a modern parable of Shangri Law morphing into The Inferno.The author owns a poet’s eye and an ear for the funny/tragic dialogue of the American lost and searching worthy of comparison to Mamet, Sherwood Anderson, and Joy Williams. A deep, entertaining read about all the truths that find us when we’re looking the other way.”

Jerry Stahl