THE GREAT WATERMELON BIRTHDAY

99 watermelons, two large honeydew melons, 100 birthday children, 1000 guests, and no story whatever. It all begins when the old couple who run the Fortuna fruit market wish to celebrate the birth of their first grandchild. They decide to give a free watermelon to every child born on that day, and the 100 children who qualify decide to have a party in the park. There are balloons and cakes and candles, and when the party's over the birthday children form a club. But it takes more than balloons and a general good time to make a picture book. Though Williams' casual line drawings show crowds of people enjoying themselves, they're not the sort of crowd scenes that have little individual jokes or dramas packed in for the amusement of observant viewers. Though tricky and pleasant, they seem better suited to birthday-party paper table ware than to hard-cover production.