My Little Sister Ate One Hare

by Bill Grossman

In this uproariously funny counting book, illustrated by popular artist Kevin Hawkes, a ravenous little sister eats everything from one hare to ten peas. Now in Dragonfly, this is the perfect book for any kid who loves to giggle (and who doesn't?) and parents who love to hear them.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Humor, Mathematics, Counting, Food

32 pages, Library Binding

First published July 23, 1996

Reviews

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I have read a couple of children’s books where the characters in question for some bizarre reason want to eat strange things such as in “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” where the old lady spent most of the book eating various animals she comes across to. Well, “My Little Sister Ate One Hare” which is written by Bill Grossman along with illustrations by Kevin Hawkes is pretty much a similar story that is just as crazy as “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly!”

This story is basically about a young girl who is the titular “little sister” being able to eat various animals which includes one hare, two snakes, three ants, four shrews, five bats, six mice, seven polliwogs and so on and so forth. Then, when the little sister tried to eat ten peas…

Can the little sister eat the ten peas and what will happen once she does?

Read this book to find out!

Now, when I first saw this book, I will admit that I was a little curious to see what this book was all about (especially with the image of a little girl eating the hare on the cover grabbing my attention). So, when I finally picked this book up, I was having a great time reading this really bizarre yet hilarious story! Bill Grossman has done an excellent job at writing this story as the story is both hilarious and creative to read and I really enjoyed the scenes where we see the little sister eating various animals such as shrews, bats, polliwogs, and ants while performing these acts on a theater stage. I like the fact that the little sister dressing up as various characters such as a magician and a snake charmer while she is eating the animals added a certain flair to the story as it makes seem like the little sister is in a stage performance while she is performing these tricks to the audience. Kevin Hawkes’ artwork is extremely comedic and exaggerated as we see various shots of the little sister’s mouth going extremely wide as she is about to eat an animal character and it was entertaining seeing these images pop out towards the audience in an unconventional way! Probably my most favorite images in this book are of the little sister dressing up in different costumes such as a magician, a snake charmer, a pirate and a cat while she is performing on stage as they give her performances even more creativity!



Parents should know that the scenes where the little sister eats up the animals alive might either be too disturbing or too gross for some small children to handle and they might want to read this book first to see if their child can handle a book where the main character eats animals alive.

Overall, “My Little Sister Ate One Hare” is a hilarious and bizarre story that children who love reading about characters who do weird activities will surely enjoy for many years to follow! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the scenes where the little sister eats various animals alive might either scare or gross out some children.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Lyla Baird · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a lot of words to read and it was pretty good, I guess. I think it was really going far on how it was just really crazy about how she couldnt throw up.

[Rfrancik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wonder what a child who eats everything including worms and ants will balk at? It turns out the little sister in My Little Sister Ate One Hare has her limits but you'll have to get to the last page to find out what it is.

This rhyming book delights the K-3rd grade crowd with it's repeating phrases and the outlandish things eaten by the "My Little Sister". Children love to participate in telling this story with the story teller and are suitably satisfied with the ending.

The pictures are colorful and easily seen in group readings and lend themselves to being used as a counting book as well as a rhyming story.

The reviews are unanimously positive and by describing the pictures and the rhyming structure as seen in the quotes below I found it very easy to use these evaluations to help me come up with a lesson plan using this book.

Reviews:
1) School Library Journal starred 12/01/96
"The text is enriched by the inclusion of just parts of previous number rhymes, so the narrative doesn't become totally repetitive. The "low fat" worm jar with our heroine dressed as a chicken and the shrews walking the sword "plank" into oral doom are just two of the priceless pictures."

2)Publishers Weekly 08/12/96
"In this zany, cumulative counting book, the narrator's ravenous sister devoursand manages to keep downsome decidedly unorthodox delicacies: "My little sister ate 3 ants./ She even ate their underpants....For those who are not quick to get queasy, enjoying this feast will surely be easy. Ages 3-7."

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fellow library staff suggested this book as one she enjoyed sharing with children at another library. I interlibrary loaned it (since our library doesn't own a copy) and read it with 2 kindergarten classes and at a story time. The kids loved it and laughed all the way through. It is a great book for read-aloud as the text lends itself to exaggeration. The book features lots of different creatures and is a counting book.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great because it has lots of repetition so children will be encouraged to participate.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot like I know an old lady who swallowed a fly. I loved the last page of the book.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

OH! What one little sister can eat...it's amazing! But, what's even more amazing is what will make her sick.

Used for "What a Mess!" Storytime-October, 2010.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, yet disturbing.

[Claire Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Little Sister Ate One Hare is about a girl, the narrator’s sister, who eats all kinds of gross things like frogs, bats, mice, snakes, and more, and never throws up. After eating 10 different types of animals, she eats 10 peas and throws up all of the animals she had eaten before.

The overall theme of this book is for the sole purpose of humor. This book is intended to make kids laugh. With all of the crazy animals and creatures wearing clothes that she eats, along with their detailed illustrations, it’s just ridiculous and would put a smile on any child’s face.

When I read this book, I was drawn to the repetition of each page, listing off everything that was previously eaten. It also rhymed, which made it even more fun and engaging to read. On the contrary, I did find it odd that when the sister ate peas, she got sick and threw up. Shining a bad light onto vegetables in a children’s book is a small issue because it could validate a child’s reasoning to not eating vegetables.

I would recommend this book for a fun read. It is funny, and the illustrations are very creative and detailed, which is personally my favorite part of a picture book. The repetition of the words could also help children with their pronunciation and spelling skills. It also introduces rhyming, which also expands a child’s vocabulary.

[Robyn Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Little Sister Ate One Hare is an excellent counting book about a girl who eats everything from bats to insects and it's not until she eats some peas that she gets sick. The front and back covers introduce the book by showing a girl about to eat a bunny and this gives readers a clue about what the story is going to be about. The book is beautifully illustrated and shows everything that she ate. Every aspect of the story is illustrated with the page of text that it corresponds to. The girl's mouth is drawn huge to show how much she is able to eat. At the last page when she supposedly got sick, everything that she ate is shown sitting beside her. This book would be a fun read-a-loud for kindergarten because students during this age are just learning to count and this book has the reader keep track of how much the girl ate but, always gives a total on every page of what she ate so students can check themselves.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful counting book by Bill Grossman follows the adventures of one daring little girl who will anything in the world, except for vegetables. It is a predictable counting book, beginning with a rhyme about eating 1 hare and then adding another rhyme each time she eats something. Each rhyme is repeated after the new one, similar to "On the First Day of Christmas" Christmas carol to and repeating until she has eaten 10 things. The refrain "we thought she'd throw up then and there, But she didn't" is repeated after each new thing she eats and is crucial to the story. Children will love the colorful illustrations by Kevin Hawkes of "the sister" dressed in costume as she eats each new thing. Telling you what she eats would give away the story and I don't want to do that! Read this book to your favorite preschooler or kindergartner, or read it to yourself. It's quite humorous!

[Kaiti Pannell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super cute book. It starts out with the little sister eating one hare then continuing with her eating different things. Each thing she eats she eats one more than the previous thing. The end of the book is her throwing up everything odd she has eaten because she ate a pea. The book rhymes and also works on counting up to ten. This was a great book to read because it also had humor. Each page ends with "but she didn't" because they think after every weird thing she eats she will throw it all backup. I would use this to teach counting for younger grades and rhyming words. I could have the students find the words that rhyme with each other on each page. Or if they were to work on counting, they could draw the amount she ate of that thing on a piece of paper.

[Jsmith42harding.Edu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book narrated by a sibling who is speaking about how many animals her sister has eaten. The narrator starts with one animal and the quantities of each animal goes up every page. she eats a hare, some mice, a few frogs, and may more little critters. The narrator is amazed by the strength of her/his sister stomach!

This one was a fun book to read and has many different way you can read it. It could be read with excitement, disgust, nervousness, etc!

In the classroom, I would use this book to teach the concept of numbers and counting in descending order. and this is a great opportunity to introduce different animals the kids may not have herd of before.

[Taylor Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. It is perfect for teaching young kids how to count because on each page, the little sister eats more and more random animals! I especially loved the illustrations in this book of the different kinds of animals on each page. More specifically, the pages in which the little sister eats the ants. I think dressing the ants up in clothes and having her eat them on a picnic was clever. I chose this book for reading aloud because you could do so much acting while reading the lines. It is eye-catching and with the right voice inflections/acting, it would be a great story for kids to hear. I will have this in my classroom for sure!

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the vein of “An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,” a little sister eats 1 hare, then 2 snakes all the way up to 10 peas. She has no problem swallowing a crazy amount of animals without throwing up, but can she handle 10 peas?

A very zany counting book told in memorable rhyme. Squeamish kids who can’t handle even talking about throwing up should avoid this as a frequent line is the narrator marveling that the sister hasn’t thrown up yet. I know some certain people in my family who would much rather have swallowed a couple hares than 10 peas. ;)

[Kristin Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bore easily with a cumulative reading pattern, so I was glad to note that rather than adding on word-for-word every time to the list of items eaten by the sister, the author gives us a condensed version to keep the book moving! Illustrations are bright and bold, making them easily seen in a read-aloud setting.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I'd never heard of this one. It's great! Classic building story that adds all the things the little sister ate, up to ten peas. Yes, peas! I won't give away the ending, but it's very good. I'm sure kids love this--especially eating all the different crazy things--shrews, lizards etc. So if that makes you queasy, don't read this.

[SaraKat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I wasn't a fan of the illustrations or the topic. It was "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly" with different characters. The end redeemed it a bit. This book is rhyming and helps teach numbers.

[Maria Salgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a silly book about a girl eating a variety of animals and in the end having a problem with eating peas. The pictures are great and add to the story. This book can be used for counting, talking about animals, rhyming.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

HA! The ending cracked me up. The rhyme scheme was off in a few places, but the repetition was fun. I could “hear” this being read in my Auntie’s voice, and think it would be really fun for kids to hear out loud and interact with.

[Sara Stoddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great way to start a writing lesson. This is a silly book about a sister. My students then wrote silly stories about their own brothers and sisters.

[Alexis Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a fun book and entertaining for children to read. Theres many different activities that could be done with this book. For example, sequencing, counting, and rhyming.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone's little sister has an appetite for strange and icky things to eat. Fun illustrations.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cute and hilarious. Probably the best counting book I've ever read.

[Rachael Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book. It rhymes. Excellent for counting! I'll use this one for storytime.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great rhyme, counting backwards, repetitive book like There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly. Funny ending.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's like the old lady who swallowed a fly. The kids were laughing throughout the entire book.

[Jennifer Schadt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute and funny!

[K Morlando · Rating 5 out of 5]

My students loved this silly book.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book...
that I read as a child...
in my school library....
and loved...
then forgot about...
until today...
when I discovered...
it in my school library...
as the librarian!