PYTHON'S PARTY

Even though Wildsmith's showy watercolors have begun to suffer from overexposure, the tricks he puts his jungle animals through as they perform at Python's party afford a splendid chance for dashing double-page displays. And all the while that preschoolers are enjoying the acts of Hyena, Leopard, Zebra and others, that lurking question of what the predatory host is up to will keep them on the edge of their floor mats. Nor will they be disappointed; Python's trick does top them all--after Pelican demonstrates how many animals he can get into his pouch at a time, Python boasts that he can get even more into his mouth, and invites them all to participate in the test. Elephant's arrival after the consequently overstuffed Python has gone to sleep helps the animals escape without any uncharacteristic repentance on the reptile's part, and the tricks that Wildsmith plays with Python's form and patterns are just what's required to make him stand out from the splashy crowd.