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A lovely little tribute to the world we share with animals (especially hares).🐰

"Each day brought new aspects of the growing leveret's behaviour at which to marvel, and I found myself drawn, against all my previous interests and inclinations, into the desire to discover everything I could about it."

Chloe Dalton's life was upended when she stumbled upon an orphaned baby animal. She loves city life, and her career as a political advisor often sees her traveling the globe for work. During the COVID pandemic, however, she retreated to the countryside. While there, she discovered an abandoned leveret (aka a baby hare, also known as a jackrabbit in the States).

Dalton had reason to believe the leveret's mother had been killed, and it was huddled in the road, unwilling to move, where it would surely be run over, so she decided to bring it home with her. She soon learned that leverets raised by humans have a very low survival rate. This woman who loved being able to travel at a moment's notice suddenly found herself housebound and latched to a small, vulnerable animal whose life depended on her.

Much to Dalton's dismay, she discovered there’s plenty of information out there on how to hunt, kill or, cook hares. But there’s very little on how to keep them alive. In Raising Hare, she charts her experience raising the hare, shares what she learned about these marvelous little animals, and reveals how her time with the hare changed her perception of the natural world. Effectively, she wrote the book that she desperately needed when she was struggling to help the leveret survive.

While raising the hare, Dalton remained firm in her understanding that it was a wild animal, so she did not name it. It remains "it" or "the hare" until it's gender is revealed, after which other pronouns are used, but still no name. I understand why Dalton chose not to name the hare and would even argue that she made the right move, but I found that it created a sense of detachment for me while reading.

It's fine to read that a hare ran around her living room yesterday and is running around her living room today, and tomorrow she will read how far hares travel in a day and share that information with us, but I think I would have cared more if Aayla had been running around the living room, or Bernard sniffed hesitantly at the oats, or Quill looked back at Dalton with soul-filled eyes. That's probably just a me problem though.

Overall, Dalton gives a tender, moving account of her time raising the hare, and she beautifully conveys her growing appreciation for our connection with animals. She also urges us to consider the myriad ways humans disrupt the natural world and inevitably hurt wildlife. When you pair that with the books lovely end pages and charming illustrations, the result is a book that would make a wonderful gift for someone who appreciates the natural world.