A Quiet Night In

``Exhausted parents everywhere,'' to whom Murphy dedicates this work, will be as tickled as their young ones by her jovial story, the fourth book featuring the Large family--those precocious, precious pachyderms who made their debut in Five Minutes' Peace . ``It's Daddy's birthday, and we're going to have a quiet night in,'' Mrs. Large informs her four children. Resigned to the fact that they are expected to go to bed early to ensure their parents a tranquil evening, the young elephants, markers and paintbrushes in trunk, make decorations for the dinner table. But, alas, Mrs. Large's romantic repast never materializes. Mr. Large comes home from work very weary, and falls asleep while reading the kids a bedtime story. And guess who does the same when she takes over? After covering their dozing parents with a blanket, the children, resolving that it would be a pity to waste the birthday meal, carry it upstairs for a bedtime snack, spilling merrily as they go. Brimming with droll particulars, Murphy's colored-pencil renditions of the family's antics are as spirited as ever--and are an ideal match for her cleverly understated text. Ages 3-up. (Apr.)