Holiday Mice!

Holiday Mice!
AuthorBethany Roberts
IllustratorDoug Cushman
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's fiction
Publisher
Published1995–2004[1]

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.

Books

As listed in Gale's Something About the Author.[1]

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]

#TitleDateRef.ISBN
1Halloween Mice!August 1995[5][6]0-395-67064-0
The mouse family wards off a cat during their midnight party at a pumpkin patch.
2Valentine 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.
3Christmas 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.
4Thanksgiving Mice!September 2001[10]0-618-12040-8
The family puts on a play about the origins of the holiday.
5Birthday 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.
6Easter 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.
7Fourth of July Mice!May 2004[14][15]0-618-31367-2
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]

References

  1. ^ a b Kumar, Lisa, ed. (2010). "Roberts, Bethany 1949–". Something About the Author. Vol. 202. Gale Research. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-4144-3499-5. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Zaleski, Jeff (May 3, 2004). "Children's Notes: A Red-White-and-Blue Parade". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 251, no. 18. pp. 194–195. ISSN 0000-0019. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ Fowler, Bonnie (June 27, 2004). "Children's Books: Flag-waving tales will make for amusing holiday reading". Winston-Salem Journal. p. A18. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Pettit, John (December 11, 1994). "Wallingford native reads her stories at library". Record-Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. p. B3. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  5. ^ a b Opocensky, Virginia (September 1, 1995). "Book Review / Preschool & Primary: 'Halloween Mice!'". School Library Journal. Vol. 41, no. 9. p. 185. ISSN 0362-8930. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via EBSCOhost.
  6. ^ a b "Halloween Mice!". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 242, no. 38. September 18, 1995. p. 89. ISSN 0000-0019. Retrieved October 31, 2025 – via Gale General OneFile.
  7. ^ "Review: 'Valentine Mice!'". Kirkus Reviews. No. 23. December 1, 1997. ProQuest 917218070. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Olivo-Posner, Diane (October 2000). "Review: 'Christmas Mice!'". School Library Journal. Vol. 46, no. 10. p. 62. ISSN 0362-8930. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  9. ^ Devereaux, Elizabeth (September 25, 2000). "Christmas Notes". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 247, no. 39. p. 74. ISSN 0000-0019. Retrieved October 31, 2025 – via Gale General OneFile.
  10. ^ a b c Marshall, Carol (September 2001). "Review: 'Thanksgiving Mice!'". School Library Journal. Vol. 47, no. 9. p. 204. ISSN 0362-8930. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  11. ^ "Review: 'Birthday Mice!'". Kirkus Reviews. Vol. 70, no. 19. October 1, 2002. p. 1478. ISSN 1948-7428. ProQuest 917092885. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  12. ^ Roback, Diane; Brown, Jennifer M.; Britton, Jason (October 7, 2002). "Children's Notes: Encore Performances: 'Birthday Mice!'". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 249, no. 40. p. 75. ISSN 0000-0019. EBSCOhost 7526093. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  13. ^ a b PR (January–June 2003). "Preschool: 'Easter Mice!'" (PDF). The Horn Book. Vol. 14, no. 2. p. 309. ISSN 1044-405X. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  14. ^ Fletcher, Connie (May 2004). "Review: 'Fourth of July Mice!'". Booklist. Vol. 100, no. 18. p. 1626. ISSN 0006-7385. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  15. ^ a b Owen, Maryanne H. (June 2004). "Review: 'Fourth of July Mice!'". School Library Journal. Vol. 50, no. 6. p. 117. ISSN 0362-8930. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  16. ^ a b Roback, Diane; Brown, Jennifer M.; Di Marzo, Cindi (December 1, 1997). "Review: 'Valentine Mice!'". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 244, no. 49. p. 52. ISSN 0000-0019. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  17. ^ Sheridan, Eileen (December 2002). "Review: 'Birthday Mice!'". School Library Journal. Vol. 48, no. 12. p. 107. ISSN 0362-8930. Retrieved July 4, 2024 – via ProQuest.
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