Cozy in bed, Tabitha imagines her toys inviting her to sleep in their habitats: the whale in the sea, the eagle in her nest, the rabbit in his burrow. Tabitha tries sleeping coiled on the floor like her snake, and up on all fours like her horse, but only when a real creature arrives to snuggle does Tabitha finally drift off.

The spare lyrical text by Maggie deVries (Once Upon a Golden Apple) encourages reluctant sleepers to imagine and play quietly on their own. This reassuring story would have been even more satisfying (especially for “petless” families) if one of Tabitha’s fantasies had helped her fall asleep, instead of another character. The abrupt ending (“And before his cool nose had found her warm toes, Tabitha was fast asleep”) would have been more believable if the pace had slowed and Tabitha descended gradually into dreamland.

Sheena Lott (Going to the Fair) uses dusky blue and green watercolours to simulate darkness, delicately blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Even in darkness, however, Tabitha is rendered with glowing, sunny colours, creating a subtle visual interpretation of imagination keeping the dark at bay. Children will enjoy matching up toys and animals (with the puzzling exception of Tabitha’s closest companion, a teddy that never becomes a real bear.) The illustration of a long-legged shadow creeping toward Tabitha is potentially frightening, but children will be delighted by the visitor’s identity on the next page. Overall, this is a lovely book, enjoyable on several levels and sure to become a bedtime favourite.