Small Brown Dog's Bad Remembering Day

British author Gibbie's charming cumulative tale stars a stocky, mahogany-red pup who misplaces his I.D. tag (and with it, all memory of his name), and goes by the generic moniker of Small Brown Dog. ""I've lost my collar, and I don't know who I am!"" he repeats to every dog he meets. His neighbors don't recall his name either, but they have seen him at his favorite pastimes. Tess the Terrier reminds him, ""You like splashing in puddles,"" and others add to the list of traits until the young amnesiac asserts, ""I'm a small brown dog with a pink nose/ who likes splashing in puddles,/ is always chasing squirrels,/ has a bad case of fleas,.../ and my name is...."" Each canine has an alliterative name and breed, from Charlie the Chihuahua to Alf the Alsatian; these limiting labels shed light on other, unofficial signs of identity, such as food and leisure-time preferences. Nascimbeni, who illustrated Jonathan Shipton's What If?, creates a vaguely Mediterranean setting of stucco buildings and manicured parks, populated with hardworking hounds and patterned in hues of terra-cotta orange, sandy white and cerulean blue. In each chalky, richly textured illustration, she hides a mouse who witnesses the quest but never divulges Small Brown Dog's real name, and plants clues as to the hero's hobbies in the early scenes. This volume stresses the importance of the personal over the superficial, subtly suggesting that name, size and color are not one's essential qualities. Ages 3-7. (June)