Smokies Life has released three new books this fall that offer readers plenty of exciting ways to engage and connect with Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
As the interpretive nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Smokies Life regularly publishes titles like these to help visitors deepen their understanding of the park’s natural and cultural heritage.
Word from the Smokies
A great gift for hikers, nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts, “Word from the Smokies: A Nature Reader” is a collection of essays exploring the biodiversity of the Southern Appalachians, with chapters describing individual species, new discoveries and people dedicated to the preservation of this vital environment.
Previously published between 2020 and 2025 by regional magazines and newspapers, the 24 stories — each written by guest columnist Frances Figart — were edited to achieve the timelessness needed for a book. Most chapters conclude with a brief section offering additional resources to learn more or make a difference in preserving the wildlife featured in the story. Chapter topics include information on bobcats, box turtles, dragonflies, dung beetles, owls, otters, snakes, salamanders, weasels and woodchucks, among others.
“What I really hope is that if readers can gain some new insight into critters, plants or fungi through this simple book,” Figart said, “then maybe they will share that and spread a greater appreciation for the biodiversity of our planet.”
So Many Salamanders!
Written by Diane Lang and vibrantly illustrated by Katy Tanis, “So Many Salamanders!” introduces young readers to each of the 30-plus salamander species found in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The poem-length book for children ages 5–10 features colorful illustrations that celebrate the park’s diversity of salamander species in bouncy rhyme. Meet Mudpuppy and Mole, Pisgah and Pygmy, Seepage and Slimy and more in humorous rhymes that celebrate the abundance of salamanders in the Southern Appalachian region. Parents and teachers can enjoy a bonus section with additional environmental information to share with young readers.
“Reading through the book, kids will get not only a sense of all the different species we have and where they might live, but then seeing all the illustrations of them side-by-side, they will get a sense of diversity — why does this one look different than that one, and how that might relate to their habitat and ecology?” said Jon Cox, wetland biology technician for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. “It’s not just a diversity of species, but a diversity of appearances and niches and lifestyles, which is pretty cool.”
Mushrooms of the Smokies
Also out this fall is “Mushrooms of the Smokies,” the newest addition to the “of the Smokies” field guide series published by Smokies Life. Written by Tennessee-based Field Mycologist Jacob Kalichman with a foreword by former National Park Service Research Coordinator Paul Super, the pocket-sized guide explores some of the most diverse and widespread species on Earth, detailing their critical role in the health of flora and fauna all over the planet.
Featuring 120 of the abundant mushroom species or groups found in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the field guide includes easy-to-understand text descriptions accompanied by an array of full-color photographs from different angles to help with identification.
This new publication assists visitors to the park and budding mycologists around the region in learning to identify a good number of Smokies fungi and to understand their important contributions to biodiversity in the Southern Appalachians.
“Even the best mushroom-identifiers aren’t able to identify everything to species on sight,” Kalichman said. “It’s a gradual process of getting more reliably confident about precise kinds of fungi, and it never really ends. No book will get anyone to total confidence straightaway, but I would love to think it could help someone hit the ground running — or preferably, to hit the ground walking.”
“Word from the Smokies: A Nature Reader” is available for $14.99, “So Many Salamanders!” for $9.95, and “Mushrooms of the Smokies” for $14.95. All three titles may be purchased at one of the eight park stores operated by Smokies Life located in Tennessee at Cades Cove, Gatlinburg, Kuwohi, Sugarlands, Townsend and Tremont, and in North Carolina at Oconaluftee and Swain County, as well as from the Smokies Life online store, SmokiesLife.org.
Smokies Life is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the scientific, historical and interpretive activities of Great Smoky Mountains National Park by providing educational products and services to park visitors. Smokies Life depends on the generous support of its members to fulfill its mission, preserving the Smokies for generations to come. Proceeds from members’ dues and retail stores also support dozens of seasonal rangers and interns who protect and interpret the 800 miles of trails, 100 historic structures and 21,000 documented species of life preserved in the park. For more information about Smokies Life and to join, visit SmokiesLife.org.
