BABYSITTING FOR BENJAMIN

Nice old mouse couple Frances and Ralph scurry about preparing for their charge—the bunny's just a baby, but bigger than they are; and though they've ``baby-proofed,'' Benjamin's leaps and ``PLAY!'' cause mayhem. His second visit is equally unnerving—``The problem is he likes to play with everything...[but] not everything likes to play with him.'' The mice wise up: next time, they show Benjamin into their yard, now well equipped with a sandbox—as well as carrots ready to pull. Once Benjamin has had a chance to run and play to his heart's content, he's ready to settle down indoors to share a book. This wholesome message is appealingly packaged with amusingly wry dialogue and disarming illustrations of the irrepressible little rabbit—not only bigger than the mice but once, in a cross section of their cozy two-story home, literally everywhere at once. (Picture book. 3-8)