Happy Snappy Birthdays

Remember the good old days when you got on the honk squad and called your friend Billy and asked him to come to your birthday party on Saturday? Today, you not only want to send your invitations, "you want to make a statement." How about a puzzle using different colored construction paper that the recipient has to piece together to get the time and location of your party? The statement here, I think, is "hey Billy, trundle your buns on over to my place on [date, time & place] and we're gonna have a creative good time!" And that's just what the Emmy-winning team of Joel Kaplan and Linda Corley-Webb have created here: a guide to putting together a relatively inexpensive but fun birthday party. Topics include planning the party, greeting guests (a lai made from cereal loops is a pretty cool hello), fun activities (like bobbing for donuts; the donut is on a string, not in the water), and nifty treats (I liked the peanut butter cracker spiders with pretzel legs, and have alerted my family that I would not be displeased to see same at my birthday party this year.) An innovative approach to a cherished ritual with lots of tips, ideas, and interesting facts (did you know that Fodelsedag is not the name of a new foreign import that's going to put Detroit into a depression, but "Happy Birthday" in Sweden?) Highly recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)