One More Hug for Madison

Madison, a genial gray mouse, has no trouble getting ready for and into bed (in fact, parents may be in awe of her unwhiny self-sufficiency). It's following through with actual sleeping that has her hung up: “Madison tried to sleep, but without the light her room felt dark and she felt lonely.” She tries to delay the inevitable by making numerous requests of her mother: a dolly, another blanket, a glass of warm milk, and so on. This is familiar territory, but Madison's anxiety feels genuine, and her mother, in a bandanna and polka-dot dress, is a sweetly reassuring figure. Instead of losing her cool (as she would in many similar stories), Madison's mother remains the picture of patience—until, that is, she collapses with exhaustion at the foot of her stubbornly awake daughter's bed. The cozy details of the mice's home (Madison sleeps in a hollowed-out log as a lantern hangs from a tree beside her) and the twist ending should prove especially kid-pleasing. Ages 3–5. (Jan.)