CAN'T SLEEP

A comforting lullaby from Raschka (Yo! Yes?, 1993, etc.) about a small dog with a big case of insomnia. He lies in his bed, bug-eyed and fearful, while his brother and parents shuffle off to their respective sacks. The second-person narration tells readers how the great incandescent moon witnesses the problem through the dog's brightly lit window and comes to offer succor and surcease. ""The moon can tell you feel frightened and are lonely/The moon will stay awake for you."" When the pup finally drifts off, the queen of night bestows a gentle kiss on his muzzle and continues the watch. It's a spare, almost existential, story, though nurturing undercurrents lighten the tone. The minimal text is broken into short bites, insuring that readers will get the hypnotic cadencing right. The watercolors have an economy of brushwork and image--sweet, fleeting--that allows a savoring of the atmosphere. Tender is the night.