SLEEP TIGHT, LITTLE MOUSE

Morgan (the Rosie mouse books) makes a virtue of familiarity in this cozy, handily undersize bedtime book. Little Mouse usually enjoys being tucked up in his bed, but now he wants a change. Perhaps he could sleep in a nest, like a bird? His mother encourages his fantasy, then refers to his waking up to a "delicious worm breakfast." Naturally, worms do not appeal to Little Mouse, who next proposes joining a "pile of puppies" (Mama disarms him by telling him how handsome he will look in a collar). Various other animal resting places come up for discussion before Little Mouse declares himself "too sleepy to think anymore" and falls asleep, in his "very own soft, grassy bed." Morgan supplies full-bleed watercolors of the diminutive hero, who is anthropomorphized enough to have a childlike expressiveness (and to clutch his own tiny mouse doll), in each scenario he imagines (e.g., nestled among the hatchlings under a mother bird's wing). Smaller pictures show Mama's wet-blanket version (the mother bird proffers a worm to downcast Little Mouse), and spot illustrations depict Mama and Little Mouse in conversation. The story line offers sweetness and constancy in place of surprises; kids will enjoy its reassuring predictability as well as the tender, gentle humor of the art. Ages 3-6. (May)