Episode 1 · Ages 2–5
Hello Mushroom!
A fallen log, a patient grandmother, and a mushroom that turns out to be one of the forest's hardest workers. The first walk into the woods.
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Buy the bookPicture books for curious kids and the grown-ups who love them
Where the forest teaches, and everyone comes home.
Stories from a Veteran grandmother about the mushrooms that help a forest heal, told for ages two and up. Memaw packs the basket, the kids pull on their boots, and the whole crew walks from the porch into the woods to see what the forest has been up to.
1. Boots on. 2. Out the door. 3. Hello, mushroom.
The books
Written by Caroline Swan. Published by The Coming Home Press™. Printed books ship from our own shop; signed copies at the Salado Christmas Stroll.
[Cover: The Field Guide coloring & activity book]
Coloring & activity book · All ages
The Field Guide
Color the meadow, follow Ranger Raccoon's trail, and try Professor Wiggles' wonder-lab pages. Crayon-friendly paper, printed in the USA.
[PRICE]
Buy the book[Cover: Moonflower Nights]
Bedtime stories · Coming 2027
Moonflower Nights
Short, slow stories for the last ten minutes of the day, when the moonflowers open and Grandfather Owl keeps watch.
Join the list to hear first
Notify mePlush companions and a board-book edition are planned for 2027, after safety testing is complete. Nothing for small hands goes on sale before the test reports are on file.
Meet the Meadow
Every walk starts on Memaw's porch. Here is who you'll meet on the path.
Memaw
A Veteran grandmother with a mushroom mug, a shawl, and a moon pendant. Knows the woods by heart and answers every “why” with “let's go see.”
Grandfather Owl
Keeps watch from the tallest pine. Speaks slowly, and only when it matters.
Willow, 11
Short wild hair, a compass around her neck, and a field journal in her pack. The big sister. Brave, protective, and sure of what's right.
Juniper, 9
Glasses, sketchbook, pencils. Sees what everyone else walked past, and draws it before it's gone. Loyal to the bone.
Poppy
Yellow dress, red boots, and a flower in her hair. First off the porch and first to say hello to whatever she finds.
Hazel
The baby, and the bunny's best friend. Carried most of the way, and perfectly happy about it.
Ranger Raccoon
Knows every trail and marks the safe ones. Never leaves anyone behind.
Sergeant Hopper
Delivers mission updates at full volume, mostly about snacks.
Professor Wiggles
Runs the Wonder Lab under the big log. Explains everything twice, the second time with a drawing.
Slow Joe
Gets there last and notices the most.
The Mushrooms
The quiet helpers. They take what the forest is done with and turn it into what comes next.
Why mushrooms?
Because they are the best teachers in the forest. A mushroom's job is to take what has fallen, broken, or ended, and turn it into soil for something new. Every book in the Meadow is about that one idea, told small enough for a four-year-old and true enough for a grown-up.
“What that means is… nothing in the forest is wasted. Not even the hard parts.”
About Memaw
Caroline Swan is a combat Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a grandmother to four girls, and the founder of The Coming Home Press™. She writes field manuals for Veterans and their families, and picture books for the smallest people in those families. The four sisters in the Meadow are hers.
She lives in Texas, where the woods are mostly cedar and the mushrooms come out after the rain.
More about Caroline and her books for grown-upsA free coloring page from the Meadow
Hello Mushroom!, ready to print, plus first word when a new book is on the way. One or two emails a month, never more.
Meet Memaw in person
Author signing at the Salado Christmas Stroll
December 4–6 and December 11–13, 2026 · Salado, Texas. Signed copies of every Coming Home Press book, and a coloring table for the kids. [Booth location and hours to be confirmed.]
Stroll details