TOP OF THE WORLD

Every new Toot & Puddle adventure is an eagerly awaited event, and while this one arrives on many levels, it takes a wrong turn somewhere and leaves someone at the station. Once again, Hobbie’s (I’ll Be Home For Christmas, not reviewed, etc.) signature style drives the story with beautiful and witty watercolors complementing, as unwritten text, the intrepid storytelling. Actually, Toot off on another perambulation drives the plot, and the practical Puddle is left to mow the lawn in a show of friendship. But he begins to worry and journeys out into the woods of Woodcock Pocket to find the tardy Toot. Following Toot’s tracks logically leads to railroad tracks, which lead to . . . finding his friend in France. But readers see nothing of that country that might have been memorably rendered in Hobbie’s charmingly detailed style. Furthermore, the happy dénouement takes a turn at the airport into an ending that feels like it was meant for a different book. It’s a large leap of readers’ faith to go from a French airport to the top of the Himalayas with the turn of a page, however young the reader is. Hobbie has always honored children’s intelligence and sense of wonder and tries in this outing, although she falls short with this whimsical twist, which inexplicably contributes to the title. Never mind. In Holly Hobbie’s world, “whim” rhymes with “friend” and readers will forgive her this whim and remain her friend, still eagerly awaiting the next Toot & Puddle adventure. (Picture book. 4-7)