WISH YOU WERE HERE

Toot is bitten by more than the travel bug in this addition to the series. This time the little globetrotter is off to the jungles of Borneo, and Opal comes to keep Puddle company at Woodcock Pocket. As his travels proceed, Toot sends postcards of his adventures with exotic flora, like the “imperial quaking spice pod.” This contrasts with Puddle’s marigolds and zinnias back home. Before long Toot is stung by a “fierce banded bush bee” and given a case of the “violet virus.” He arrives home periwinkle-colored and queasy. His friends, in searching for a cure, try everything from eastern and western medicine to positive thinking. They discover that the only cure is a mushroom called the “purple slimecap stinkhorn,” which is definitely stinky, but definitely works. It’s a bit of a concern that the antidote is a mushroom, something which children are always being warned against eating unauthorized. The story, however, is clever and as in all the Toot and Puddle books, friendship reigns supreme. Hobbie has once again illustrated her story with exquisite attention to detail in her peerless watercolors. (Picture book. 3-7)