Nothing to Do (1964) is essentially a forgotten volume of Hoban's famous Frances Badger series. The only differences are that the hero is a possum instead of a badger, and then-spouse Lilian Hoban's artwork never got the same color treatment here as with the Frances series.

Walter Possum is bored out of his mind, and typical of kids, he's taking that boredom out on everyone around him in benign, annoying ways. His pops passes on a method to combat boredom whenever it rears its ugly head in Walter's life. Walter gets a something-to-do stone to keep in his pocket, always. Whenever he finds himself with nothing to do, all he needs to do is rub the smoothed stone he carries, and ~something to do~ will soon come to him from his environment.

Of course, it's successful, or this book would never have been published. Walter soon finds himself annoyed by a bored sister, and successfully passes on this method with a something-to-do stick.

I'm surprised Nothing to Do has remained out of print for so long -- it's just as good as any Frances outing. The possum-badger separation is a little weird, since Frances and Walter (and their respective families) look identical, with only one scene taking advantage of Walter's being a possum. Walter's method for combating childhood boredom is also quite clever.

Easily recommended for Frances fans, although it certainly needs a new edition, preferably with updated artwork. ( )