School Library Journal Review
PreS-At his second birthday party, a cowboy-costumed mouse creates havoc while galloping around on his wooden horse. A gigantic balloon pops, his horse breaks, and his birthday cake is smashed. Friends save the day by substituting "cowboy vittles" (flapjacks) for the cake, and a kind squirrel offers to be the birthday mouse's "horse." 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. Cushman's animals are personable, but twice he places the protagonist in four panels across a spread, which is bound to confuse preschoolers, who will see four separate mice. And children will wonder how, in one set of panels, a tiny pair of cowboy boots is made to fit on the mouse's enormous feet. Not a first purchase.-Eileen Sheridan, Bridgeport Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
When a mouse turns two, friends and family throw a cowboy theme party in Birthday Mice!, the fifth title in the Holiday Mice series by Bethany Roberts, illus. by Doug Cushman. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
In this fifth holiday book featuring these mice characters, elaborate preparations set the stage for a young mouse's cowboy-themed birthday celebration. When the frivolity gets out of hand, the revelers regroup and clean up, and the party goes on. Festive watercolors convey the energy lacking in the forced rhyming text. From HORN BOOK Spring 2003, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Roberts and Cushman's (Christmas Mice, not reviewed, etc.) holiday mice return with a bauble for young listeners in celebration of little mouse's birthday. Little mouse is turning two and his party has a cowboy theme. The festivities are taking place in a forest clearing, spiced up with Cushman's party-colored artwork, complete with streamers and jumbo balloons and big cupcakes with candles. The action frequently gets out of hand-"Howdy, cowboy! / Whoa! Watch out! / Oh, no! / POP! POP! POP!"-but, all and all, things are very merry. Presents are unwrapped-"Cowboy boots that stomp, stomp, stomp! / The chipmunks bring a rope lasso. / Skunk gives spurs that jingle, jangle. / Perfect for a buckaroo!"-and some rousing square dancing ends with a chipmunk swung into the cake. But the friends make do, even to the point of assigning a squirrel to be the little mouse's horse. Occasional rhymes and a musical cadence to the text-with its oompah repetition of words-make this a lively performance piece, and the illustrations keep the visual stimulation on par with the words. (Picture book. 3-5)
