I LOVE YOU, MARY JANE

It's Mary Jane's birthday party and all the children in town are invited--the boy making sand pies, the girl making daisy chains, the boy fishing, the girl playing dress-up, the boy playing Indian, the girl playing dolls, even the baby. Mary Jane has a surprise for everyone (and for us too--she's that ubiquitous sheep dog) a puppy for each guest. (What their mothers said isn't told.) The charm is all in the illustrations--corn-pone kids with warm greige background, feathery white landscape, pink accents; the story is too slight to matter.