Colorful, lively, funny, original. -- School Library Journal, Starred Review

School Library Journal, Best Book of the Year 1986

Illustrations in brilliant, glowing primary colors and a simple text tell the story of Father Mouse, Mother Mouse, and Baby Mouse. . . Energy pulsates throughout the whole book, from the endpapers of crisp, juicy vegetables to the mice dancing in their garden costumes. . . A festive salad of a book, filled with snap, crackle, and crunch.
-- The Horn Book

Lively visual humor, luminous color and a sure sense of design bring the simple text to vibrant life.
-- Kirkus Reviews

Though the baby mouse in Hurd's latest frolic is still in diapers, she already has a mind of her own. . . Hurd's fluid paintings make Farmer Clem's garden a cheerful camouflage for the Mouse family and their willful baby; his kaleidoscopic colors and mischievous sense of humor make this book ripe for the picking.
-- Publishers Weekly

Bright, jazzy shapes and colors complement this sprightly ode to vegetables, which concludes with a joyous hoe-down in the moonlight, the mice dressed up as vegetables, Baby as a bright green pea.
-- University of Chicago, Bulletin for Children's Books

Hurd has concocted a high-spirited story about a mouse family who lives on Farmer Clem's property. . . The artwork is some of Hurd's best, featuring bright watercolors in summertime hues and strong, energetic line work. The action fairly skips across the pages, and children will feel the music of the original 'Pea Patch Jig' that is included, even without hearing it.
-- Booklist

. . .a delightful children's story about a family of mice who dwell quietly in a lovely garden patch tended by Farmer Clem. Incredibly delicate, expressive watercolor illustrations bring the exuberant Mouse family to life in their vegetable patch home. There are exciting moments (Baby Mouse crawls away to sleep in a lettuce, ending up in Farmer Clem's salad basket), dramatic moments (a fox appears to raid the Mouse family in the garden at night), and festive moments (the Mouse family has a garden party, with dancing, vegetable costumes, music, and moonlight) galore.'The Pea Patch Jig' dances merrily through pages of fabulous illustrations, vibrant vegetables, and one courageous Baby Mouse who saves the day with her pea shooting skills.
--Midwest Book Review

Back in print, Hurd's exuberant picture book is inspired by the folksong of the same name, but contains a straightforward narrative text. The story is broken into three chapters but can be read straight through like a regular picture book. The plot concerns a mouse family living in the garden of Farmer Clem, and their preparations for a party.

Hurd's joyous, deeply colored watercolor and ink cartoonish illustrations feature mice characters in human dress, similar to many of his other books such as Mama Don't Allow (1984) and Mystery on the Docks (1983). There is a looseness to the drawings, that combine with the deep colors to depict a warm, homey atmosphere that suits the story well. Libraries will want to purchase this reissue to replace old worn copies of this popular book by a Bay Area author.
--Bay Views and more. . .