The Seven Silly Eaters

The Seven Silly Eaters is a wonderful children's book and adults will enjoy it too. Great illustrations and a story your children will love. A classic for young children. You won't be disappointed with this book.

Sweet and clever book about a family with seven picky eaters, and their mother who does her best to keep them all happy. The illustrations are beautifully detailed, the rhyme was obviously written by an actual poet. We love this book!

This is one of my favorite children's books. The story is silly--yet hits home for me as a mother of (only) 5. I love the rhyme and cadence of the text. But the pictures are the best. Each one has so much detail and adds to the story without the need for more words. You want to read the story for its rhythm and then go through again to tell the story in the pictures. I've bought it again several times for friends. Ours is pretty worn out.

My daughter loves this book - and we enjoy reading it to her. The book has also helped us support our "good" eater who likes to try new things. I first bought this book for my daughter but have since given it as gifts to other children.

When my children were young we made many trips to the library for this book. The librarian must have thought I was crazy. I would bring this book back only to check it out again & again to the point it became ridiculous, so I finally bought it. It was great family times for everyone. My son & daughter would recite their favorite parts in the book from memory - that's how much we read it. The story depicts a stressed out mother of 7 children with strange appetites who will stop at nothing to satisfy their cravings, out of love for her children. Frazee's illustrations brought to life the emotions & chaos of the Peter's household in vivid color. The book is written to capture a child's attention, but expressed in a way that most moms can relate. At the end of the story the children try to surprise their mother. The story not only entertains, but teaches the importance of family & to honor & value your own mother because of all the sacrifices she made for you. A very well written story by Hoberman that never gets old & a great discovery for children new to this classic.

As a homeschooling mom and a collector of good children's books, I say this one is a classic! The rhyme and story are as good and silly as any of the Seuss books but it's the illustrations that really make this book one that begs to be read again and again. I know some may prefer the story to have more of a moral where the children learn to be not so picky but I think the children do love their mother and in the end, learn to be helpful.

Poor Mrs Peters is the mother of seven very picky eaters. There's the oldest, Peter, who will only drink warm milk, Lucy who drinks only homemade pink lemonade, and little Jack who eats only bowls and bowls of applesauce. Then there's Mac who only eats creamy oatmeal that has to be strained twice, and Mary Lou, lover of only soft squishy homemade bread. And last but not least the twins, Flo who eats only poached eggs, and Fran who eats only fried. As the children grow, so do their appetites, and soon a very tired and frazzled Mrs Peters can barely keep up."...Creamy oatmeal, pots of it!/Homemade bread and lots of it!/Peeling apples by the peck,/Mrs. Peters was a wreck..." To make matters worse, tomorrow is her birthday and she's sure the children have forgotten. But as she drags herself wearily up to bed, her children hatch a birthday surprise plan, and through a series of unlikely events, come up with the solution to all their future eating problems..... Mary Ann Hoberman has written a gentle and entertaining story that is sure to charm both fussy and not so fussy eaters everywhere. Her engaging, repetitive, rhyming text is full of energy and rhythm, and begs to be read aloud. Marla Frazee's bold and expressive, humorous artwork grows busier and more chaotic with each new Peters' family addition, until it almost spills off the pages. Children will enjoy exploring the inticate illustrations, and finding all the silly and special details. Perfect for youngsters 3-7, The Seven Silly Eaters is a marvelous, manic, romp, complete with a satisfying, happy ending that will tickle the funny bone of every member of your family, and is definitely a MUST for all home bookshelves.

This is a book my children request often and talk about frequently.

Each of the seven Peters' children are picky eaters; they will eat only one item prepared perfectly to their liking. With the first child, Mrs. Peters chuckles and gives in to her son's picky habit, just as many first time parents would do. When the family grows from one child to seven, poor Mrs. Peters does what many parents would NOT! She prepares individual foods for each of her seven picky eaters.

Somehow, this "supermom" does it all. Yet, as the story goes on, we see Mrs. Peters growing wearier and more disheveled.

The children give up on the disaster they created while trying to make a birthday breakfast for mom, yet somehow it all comes together to make the perfect surprise.

Not only did my children enjoy this book, but it also kept me entertained because boy, can I ever relate to this mom! The illustrations are detailed and add much to the storyline.

My kids also begged to make Mrs. Peters birthday cake by combining all the children's foods. We tried. I had my doubts, and they were confirmed. Perhaps the author could include a recipe that might actually taste good!

This is one my family's favorite children's books. The illustrations are so much a part of the story; they compliment and enrich the story so much that I always take my time reading it so that I can look at the pictures. My favorite illustration is the one where Mrs. Peters is taking turns hugging all of her children for their surprise birthday present to her. So much is packed into each picture. My children never get tired of having me read this to them. Even my teen son will come listen when I read it to the younger kids.

Prolific children's book author and poet Mary Ann Hoberman has struck gold once again in this funny tale about the seven silly eaters (all children, naturally) in the Peters family. Mrs. Peters starts off as patient as can be, as each of the seven children develops some quirk or another having to do with size, temperature, taste, or type of food that they absolutely, positively WILL NOT EAT. She bends over backwards to accomodate their likes and dislikes, and the result is that the children are able to combine their favorite foods to come up with something wonderful for their wonderful mother's birthday.
The illustrations beautifully complement the story. Artist Marla Frazee's work has something of a Hillary Knight look to it (think early "Eloise" by Kay Thompson), and she beautifully captures the frenetic wiggliness and activity inherent in a family with seven children. Lots of fun for children, especially ones who happen to be (or know!) "silly eaters."

We found this book in the library when my daughter was 2 or 3. (She is now 15.) We checked it out so many times that we had to have a copy for ourselves. One night when we were at Half Price Books we happen to find a copy, so we bought it. Now we are looking for a copy to give a shower gift to a couple at church that are expecting their first baby and heard about another couple that had asked for books to build their new baby's library. They thought this was a wonderful idea and already have most everything they need for the nursery. My daughter and I both thought of this book when they said that. We love the rhyming way the story goes and can just imagine the whole thing happening just the way the story goes. What mother wouldn't do what Mrs. Peters does for all of her children. How exciting the end is to finally find a solution to the whole problem.

The seven silly eaters is one of our absolute favorites that we read again and again. The rhyming is so well written and funny and delightful to read out loud. The illustrations are so detailed and fun to look at. We always notice something new that makes us laugh each time we read it. Our book is well loved and was always one of the books my kids requested when I read a book to their class. Its also one that I have bought a lot for birthday gifts or a new baby. And of course we have to read it on our birthdays. We made Mrs. Peter’s birthday cake one year from a recipe we found online, it wasn’t all that good, but the kids had a lot of fun making it and singing happy birthday with candles and pink frosting. Hope you enjoy reading this sweet book as much as our family has.

What a book! Where to start explaining why I adore it? A frazzled mother, picky (but not obnoxious) children, a house overflowing with messes and love. Beautifully written with none of the dreary, predictable rhymes found in too many children's books. A storyline of a mother coping as well as she can for as long as she can, finally blowing her cool, and her maturing children stepping up to accept new responsibilities. Ahhh.

Without Marla Frazee's illustrations, the book would still be good, but the illustrations are even more wonderful than the words. The mom is persistent, hardworking, loving. She has a Zen-like serenity, MOST of the time. I love that she's taller than the dad, and that she wears Converse All-Stars, and that her hair falls into her face sometimes. The dad is cool, too, even though he isn't a significant part of the text. I love that the trees grow, the cats have kittens, the apple and lemon trees bear fruit. I love that the family is able to get it together so that the mom gets time to play her cello again. She has earned it, that's for sure.

This book is a treasure. Buy it, savor it with your kids. And the next time you are faced with "I'm bored!", enlist your children's help in baking Mrs. Peters' Birthday Cake. There's no recipe, but start with oatmeal, applesauce, milk, eggs, etc... you may need to add a bit of baking powder, and some sugar. Just wing it. Even if it doesn't turn out "pink and plump and perfect," you will have done something pretty cool with your kids. With luck, they will even help in cleaning it up afterward.