A very tired little mouse who doesn’t want to nap, no matter how much her mother tries to lull her, kicks and cries until she floods her bedroom with tears and her bed floats out the window and down to the sea. There she plays with birds, animals, and sea creatures until she tires herself out and falls asleep. At the end, the loving mother mouse retrieves her little one, towing her back to her own room and a much-needed nap.

Mother-daughter team Eugenie and Kim Fernandes, author and illustrator of Just You and Me and Little Toby and the Big Hair, have teamed up again to create a wonderfully gentle, whimsical bedtime story. Based on a family story that Eugenie Fernandes told her own children, as well as her now out-of-print book, The Little Boy Who Cried Himself to Sea (Kids Can Press, 1982), this revised version of the story has striking new illustrations. Kim Fernandes has not only mirrored the playfulness of Eugenie’s spare, simple text but her buoyant Fimo illustrations create a sprightly sense of movement that truly makes the text come alive. The pictures also share the text’s sense of humour – the mice live in a pale pink coffee pot and the little mouse’s room includes a framed postage stamp, potted plant, and bright yellow bed made from a running shoe.

Sleepy Little Mouse is the first in a projected series. A sequel, Busy Little Mouse, is to be published next spring. This is a welcome addition to the literature for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Like other engaging books for the very young, including Teddy Jam’s Night Cars and Sheree Fitch’s If I Were the Moon, Sleepy Little Mouse is certain to become a bedtime favourite.