Holiday Mice!
Children's book series by Bethany Roberts
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Holiday Mice! is the informal title of a children's book series written by Bethany Roberts and illustrated by Doug Cushman. It was published between 1995 and 2004 by Houghton Mifflin's Clarion imprint; reception was mixed to positive.
| |
| Author | Bethany Roberts |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Doug Cushman |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's fiction |
| Publisher | |
| Published | 1995–2004[1] |
Books
The series, which consists of seven titles, was referred to as Holiday Mice (without the exclamation mark) by Publishers Weekly in 2004.[2] In each book, a family of mice—two children plus their mother and father—celebrate the titular holidays.[3] Author Bethany Roberts had previously written the Waiting-for Series, a trilogy in two of whose installments a rabbit family celebrated spring and Christmas.[4]
| # | Title | Date | Ref. | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halloween Mice! | August 1995 | [5][6] | 0-395-67064-0 | |
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The mouse family wards off a cat during their midnight party at a pumpkin patch. | |||||
| 2 | Valentine Mice! | January 2, 1997 | [7] | 0-395-77518-3 | |
|
The family sends out Valentine's Day cards to forest residents as they travel through a snow-covered landscape. | |||||
| 3 | Christmas Mice! | September 2000 | [8][9] | 0-395-91204-0 | |
|
During their Christmas festivities, they receive a holiday cheese from a nearby cat, and return the favor by sending it a cookie. | |||||
| 4 | Thanksgiving Mice! | September 2001 | [10] | 0-618-12040-8 | |
|
The family puts on a play about the origins of the holiday. | |||||
| 5 | Birthday Mice! | October 21, 2002 | [11][12] | 0-618-31367-2 | |
|
When their son turns two, the parents hold a birthday for him in a forest clearing, set to a cowboy theme. | |||||
| 6 | Easter Mice! | 2003 | [13] | 0-618-16455-3 | |
|
While on an Easter egg hunt, the son in the family feels left out without finding an egg. | |||||
| 7 | Fourth of July Mice! | May 2004 | [14][15] | 0-618-31367-2 | |
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The family spends Independence Day holding a parade, playing baseball, swimming in the pool, and enjoying fireworks among other activities. | |||||
Reception
Reception of the Holiday Mice! books was mixed-to-positive. Cushman's artwork was praised, but occasional criticism was leveraged towards Roberts' "choppy" rhyming text.[8][13][16]
Reviewing the debut installment, Halloween Mice!, Virginia Opocensky of the School Library Journal (SLJ) remarked that the "Full-page watercolors are appropriate for the holiday while not too scary for the intended audience."[5] When Christmas Mice! was published a few years later, another SLJ reviewer wrote, "The rhyming text works hard to stick to a basic vocabulary, but the story falls flat."[8] The publication noted similar problems with the later Thanksgiving and Birthday installments,[10][17] but gave their approval to Fourth of July;[15] Carol Marshall nitpicked Thanksgiving's historical accuracy.[10]
Publishers Weekly gave Halloween a mixed review: "Roberts's text lacks the rhythm or drama of a good read-aloud. Cushman's watercolor mice set a cheery holiday mood but don't add much zing."[6] Two years later, the magazine called Valentine's Mice! "[a] spirited if slight holiday caper."[16]