cover image When Mama Can't Sleep

When Mama Can't Sleep

Christa Kempter, illus. by Natascha Rosenberg, North-South (Ingram, dist.), $6.95 (24p) ISBN 978-0-7358-4015-7

Helping to launch the tear-resistant Tuff Books series, this story, first published in Switzerland, focuses on a family's restless night. First Mama, wearing pink bunny slippers, gets out of bed; she's worried about Grandma's belated birthday present. For Papa, the broken washing machine is the cause of his insomnia; Max's teddy bear has a rude awakening when Max rolls over on him; and Max is kept up by the cherubic ghost lurking behind the curtain. Readers kept awake by bumps in the night should relate to the family's quandary, which finds a tender (if impractical) resolution. Available simultaneously: Two Little Chicks, Owl Howl, and Rainbow Fish and the Whale. Ages 3–up. (Apr.)