THE 46 LITTLE MEN

A popular Swedish illustrator cleverly extends a Swedish tradition—the amusing scene incorporating dozens of mischievous little figures—to make a story. Forty-six elf-sized men (see endpapers for a key to their names plus mini-characterizations: ``Dr.Pleasant—a sympathetic listener''; ``The Terrorist''; ``Mex''; ``The four card players''; ``The fifteen extra characters'') first appear in a framed picture on a nursery wall, where they are busy with pranks, tasks, their own picture, and other individualized activities. Two men, having found a map of the ``Island of the Elves,'' are already climbing out of the picture. On subsequent wordless pages, they all explore the nursery and its toys, cleverly using what they find to make several aircraft, fly out the window, and proceed to elfland- -where they enter a cave with a door leading back to their own picture. A delightfully playful, imaginative book with nearly inexhaustible details to find, follow, predict, or puzzle through. (Picture book. 3+)