EUGENE THE BRAVE

The youngest member of Conford's possum family, Eugene is suddenly afraid of the dark. And sister Geraldine, to the surprise of no one who remembers impossible Possum, is no help. When brother Randolph suggests that ""Maybe there will be a nice bright moon out,"" Geraldine pops in with ""I think it might rain."" And when the two are alone in their treetop home, she sings Eugene a reassuring lullaby: "". . . No vampire bat with glowing eyes,/ Is going to take you by surprise,/ No ghost in white, or goblin green,/ Is whispering, 'Eugene. . . Eugene. . .'."" Nevertheless (and again, in character) it is Geraldine who cures Eugene, first conditioning him with small fake scares and then, in the process, falling into a deep hole (""There might be snakes. . . . There might be poisonous spiders"") from which Eugene, to everyone's admiration, must rescue her. Geraldine's remedy is par for the picture-book course, but the style of execution, like the earlier peskiness, is all her own.