MAMA MOON

Ouellette-Howitz's first book has an original approach to a timeless parental problem: how to help children cope with the impending arrival of a new sibling. This is the enchanting story of Sophie, who climbs into her mother's lap one sleepless night, eager for answers about the new baby inhabiting Mama's ``room.'' ``It's a womb, not a room,'' her mother says, while Sophie drifts in and out of dreams. One is haunted by visions of relatives flocking around the new baby, with Sophie disappearing in the background, a pint-size nobody. ``Who will hold me after the baby comes?'' she asks. Reassuring words about her place in the family help her drift into peaceful slumber. Stock (Maggie Rugg Herold's A Very Important Day, p. 946) creates vibrant nighttime scenes, uniquely rendered in chalky pastels on a gray nubby background. Her blushing, rounded formsMama, in the last stages of pregnancy, looks like a ripe red plumsuit this loving lullaby perfectly, a story that will soothe and comfort children in Sophie's situation. (Picture book 3-6)