Tommy Catches a Cold

Tommy Catches a Cold is the 6th Rugrats 8x8 book and was released August 1, 1998.

Characters

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Didi
 * Stu
 * Betty
 * Grandpa Lou
 * Spike
 * Minka (mentioned)

Summary
Tommy doesn't feel so good. He hears someone say he's caught a bug. Now he and his friends have to find the bug and let it go while his parents try all sorts of remedies to cure his head cold.

Plot
It is a winter Saturday and Tommy and his friends are at the park. Tommy drinks from a bottle but then a boy with a red nose says "Hey, that's mine!" and Tommy gives it back to the red-nosed boy. Didi says that despite the fresh air being good for oneself, there were several kids with colds, so they bring their kids home so they don't catch a cold. The next morning is Sunday, they wake up at 5:30 and Tommy's nose doesn't work and his throat tickles. Didi and Stu think they should call an ambulance but Lou says that Tommy just caught a bug. Tommy thinks Grandpa means a literal bug. Didi calls Dr. Lipschitz and writes instructions down. Later that morning Stu and Tommy stay in the bathroom with the shower running and for the rest of the morning, Tommy has to stay on the sofa with Didi feeling his forehead and wiping his nose every five minutes. Then she rubs Smelly Rub on his chest from a big purple jar to help him breathe. Stu gives Tommy a bottle of Minka's chicken soup with chicken feet in it. Later that day, Chukie, Phil and Lil visit but Didi keeps Tommy away from them, then unstuffs his nose with a green suction cup which the babies fear. Tommy tells his friends he has to find and let go the bug he caught at the playground and that it must have crawled into the diaper bag and is now in the house. The babies search. Tommy says it is probably a large bug and not to hurt or kill it. Didi is about to give Tommy juice with medicine in it, but the phone rings and she hurries off expecting Dr. Lipschitz's European lecture. Chuckie hides it behind a plant. The next day (Monday) Tommy's nose is still stuffed up but he doesn't have a cold anymore. Lou suggests cod liver oil. Didi agrees and goes to get some. Tommy expresses his dislike of "odd" liver oil and Chuckie suggests the bug will fly away, Phil suggests opening the doors and windows and Lil suggests calling the exterminator. Then, Spike is standing still and growling. There is a tiny bug on Tommy's medicine cup which Spike led them to, barking. Chuckie and Lil think it might be dangerous, but Tommy catches it with his bottle and lets it go. The next morning Tuesday Tommy's nose is unstuffed and Didi gives him a mobile with rain forest insects, which he gives to Spike.

Trivia

 * The idea of finding a bug someone has caught and letting it go is used in Grandpa's Bad Bug.
 * Minka's chicken soup with feet in it comes from the Old Country.
 * Apparently when Grandpa Lou was a baby he got cod liver oil as a treatment for illness.