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.

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.