LITTLE MOP LOST

From a Japanese illustrator with six books to her credit, her first to be published outside Japan. The story is familiar: separated from Michan, his young mistress, in a crowd, a little dog spends an anxious night before a kindly man takes him in and puts up a notice; it's a week before a friend of Michan's happens to see it and Mop is taken home. The tone of both story and illustrations is darker than that of many similar books: during a night in the park, Mop makes friends with an abandoned dog that then simply vanishes after being picked up by a man from the pound, suggesting that the dangers of the street are real. The soft-edged art, in the intense colors of pastels, also brings out the adventure's scarier aspects with a dog's-eye view of the confusing forest of legs where Mop gets lost and with a dramatic take of him hurtling down a dark alley. Kanome is especially skilled at capturing the little dog's emotions: his fear, his concern for the other dog, his doleful acceptance of the man's hospitality and incredulous joy at the ultimate reunion. An appealing import that should be welcome in American collections. (Picture book. 3-7)