Cazet is still working the night shift he began in Mother Night (1988), and continued in ``I'm Not Sleepy'' (1992) and Dancing (1995). This time it's verse, and most of it zany--a nice change from similar collections, which tend toward the lyrical. There's the child who insists he's ``Not Afraid of the Dark'' but only needs that searchlight by the bed to read--and, coincidentally, to keep scary creatures (and his sister) at bay; the child who gives ``Good-night Kisses'' to everyone and everything in the house--and then begins all over again with hugs; the child who is afraid of the ravenous Murphy bed at his grandparents' house; and the siblings who take turns putting horrible things in each other's beds. There's the wolf who learns to count sheep--in his favorite recipes; the cat who hears the siren song of the night and rouses his mistress by crying, ``Me out''; and Gertrude Holstein, who dreams of being an Olympic pole vaulter and jumping over the moon. Bracketing this wild and crazy stuff are a few serious poems, e.g., the title poem, about the security of the presence of a loving parent. Pencil and watercolor illustrations--sometimes soft, sometimes more pointed and full of comic visual asides--are exactly right for the various moods. (Picture book/poetry. 7-11)
