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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]
![]() | |
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]