 | |
| Author | Bethany Roberts |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Doug Cushman |
| Language | English |
| Series | Holiday Mice[1][2] |
| Genre | Children's fiction |
| Published | October 21, 2002[2] |
| Publisher | Clarion Books[2] |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 32[2] |
| ISBN | 0-618-31367-2 |
Birthday Mice! is a 2002 children's book written by Bethany Roberts and illustrated by Doug Cushman. Part of the informally marketed Holiday Mice series,[1] it received mixed reviews.
When their son turns two, the holiday-celebrating mouse family of four[3] holds a birthday for him in a forest clearing, set to a cowboy theme.[2][4]
Reviews for Birthday Mice!, the fifth title with Roberts and Cushman's characters,[5] were mixed. Kirkus Reviews said, "Occasional rhymes and a musical cadence to the text—with its oompah repetition of words—make this a lively performance piece".[2] Conversely, Eileen Sheridan wrote in the School Library Journal: "This is a difficult book to read aloud; the rhyming text doesn't scan, and sometimes the rhymed word doesn't appear until pages later. [Although] Cushman's animals are personable, [the birthday boy's appearance across] four panels [in two instances] is bound to confuse preschoolers, who will see four separate mice.... Not a first purchase."[6] In separate reviews, The Horn Book criticized the "forced rhyming text"[5] and "uneven" rhymes[7] which the "festive watercolors" helped to compensate.[5][7]
