THE BIRTHDAY BOX OF DREAMS

This is one of those frail little fantasies, with whimsical, oversweetened fine line drawings, in which one wan fancy follows another without any point or progress, and the crowning moment is a birthday dinner--this one consisting of ""mock ducks, chocolate sardines, hot sugar dogs, vanilla sausages and homemade promise pie"" and consumed in a treetop where Julia, just turned seven, is the guest of a treelike king and queen and seven human children. Before jumping into her box of dreams, a birthday gift from the king, and returning to her own bed, Julia also rides on a ferry fish, visits a garden of giant flowers and a playground with a dinosaur slide, and makes friends with a number Of animals who give her advice like ""Hurry, hurry or you will fail"" and guide her along singing ""To the Birthday Tree we go, where the gentle south winds blow."" It's a gentle wind indeed that wouldn't blow this wisp of a dream to Neverland.