It would be nice, thinks William Alfred Ruggleford Jones five days before his birthday, to have more parents so he could have more presents; but when the wishbone he wishes on at dinner brings him four sets of identical parents at breakfast, all with proclivities identical to his parents', he decides that eight is too many parents to please. Seeing William etc. plied with food, loaded with chores, assaulted by sports, would be funnier if the consequences were not so extended, which can be said of the story as a whole--it's diluted and drawn out by whimsical diversions. Besides, every child knows that you can't break a wishbone until it has dried.