A little white dog that nobody seems to want finds just the right home--and a name. No one wants the nameless little dog wandering the streets looking unsuccessfully for food and shelter until kindhearted Fred and Lucy, a young couple, take him inside. After they feed him rice pudding and bathe him, they realize that they cannot bear to return him to the pound. Newly adopted, McDuff-named that night for their favorite shortbread biscuit-is last seen happily asleep on his back on a pillow next to Fred and Lucy's bed. Wells describes McDuff's emotions in ways that little readers will identify with and understand. She describes his joy in being accepted with these words: ''No one had ever asked him to come in. Everyone had always told him to go away.'' Jeffers's illustrations brilliantly capture a bygone art deco America in Lucy and Fred's cozy home, and dog lovers everywhere will recognize the very specific details that bring McDuff to life, from the familiar lift of a paw in the rain to the frightened eyes peeking out over the car dashboard.