Sharilyn Hobbs, age 11, of Des Moines, Iowa, for her question:             

HOW CAN WE TELL POISONOUS MUSHROOMS?

Let's face it, sometimes the answer to our hopes is a definite no no. For example, the plant world is run by Mother Nature, .and her rules are very strict. It so happens that most members of the mushroom family are toadstools which are unsafe to eat. Some are deadly dangerous.
Only an expert can tell which is which  and a sensible expert refuses to sample any wild mushroom. Even some of the safe ones may be poisonous when they are young or old. So, let's forget about the whole thing and get our mushrooms from experienced growers. They produce safe varieties, free from the bugs and harmful bacteria that infest both safe and unsafe mushrooms of the wilds.