Sunflower House: A Charming Picture Book for Kids (Ages 4-7) About Planting and Summer Fun

by Eve Bunting, Kathryn Hewitt (Illustrator)

A charming tale about inventive children who plant some summer fun.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Summer, Nature, Plants, Gardening, Science

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1996

About the author

Also known as Evelyn Bolton and A.E. Bunting.

Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.

Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.

In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book about sunflowers. A family plant sunflower seeds in a circle and they grow all summer long. It makes a nice house for the boy of the house to play in with his friends. It’s the perfect house until the flowers start to fall over heavy with seeds.

I love the artwork here and I love that this is about living with a garden or plants. The kid created a new little world. Next to our fence, we have a plot where we grow Paul Bunyon Sunflowers and the kids love this. They sit on my brothers shoulders and still the plants are taller than them. They have done it for years and the kids love it. This reminded them of that. The book also has a lovely rhyme scheme. It’s a delightful beginning book.

The niece gave this 5 stars. We never thought of sowing them in a circle. She loved that idea, even if we can’t do that. The nephew thought, yeah sunflowers grow, big deal. He did like the idea of having a fort area. Still, he said, he would rather have a treehouse than a ring of sunflowers. He gave this 3 stars.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books got rythmn, this books got rhyme, this book can show you how to go outside and have a really good time.
Who wouldnt want a fort made of flowers? To hide in, to play in, to dance with in cool summer showers.
Learn to grow and protect, nurture and respect. Learn to play and enjoy, and use nature as your toy.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for use with a Reception class as we had been looking at 'Growth', planting our own seeds and looking at life cycles.

The illustrations are quite old fashioned - realistic, soft pencil, watercolour style - and the children enjoyed them. There is a lot of detail in the pictures - the children can look for minibeasts (we spotted ladybirds and caterpillars!) I liked how the illustration shows how the seed is spreading its roots beneath the soil and the children were excited by this as it linked with their prior learning.

The story is told in rhyme, which makes for a good read aloud session, as the children can join in, and has them listening to and enjoying the rhythm.

We had done some creative writing and speaking and listening activities on a magical secret garden and in this book, the child plants the sunflowers in a circle so that he has a secret garden/den in the centre of the large sunflowers, so that fitted in nicely with our topic too.

The story goes through the life cycle of the sunflowers - the flowers fade and droop and the children harvest the remaining seeds for next year, so it can link to discussion about life cycles and about the seasons.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title tells the basics. The children plant the seeds in a circle instead of in a line. As the flowers grow up, they end up making a natural fort that's only big enough for them to enter. The parents, though, can only enjoy it from the outside.

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[Julie Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful read for children perhaps before they plant their first garden or plant. The boy plants a large ring of sunflower's, worries/wonders if they'll ever come up (don't we all?), enjoys a "fort" of sorts inside this circle of tall sunflowers, mournfully watches them die, and picks the seeds to do it all over again next spring.

My favorite lines:

"It's neat to think when something's gone/
a part of it goes on and on."

This little book is a celebration of a good, old-fashioned, small-town childhood.

[Amy-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sunflower house is a great book to introduce to students doing the plant life cycles. It holds math and science in it. The students will be able to connected it to the prior knowledge about plants and will be able to watch them all grow. The math comes from the measuring of the seed all the way to the flower. This book allows students to also use their imaginations. They saw how the boy made a house out of the sunflowers. The also see a ton of science references. Like the seed to the seedling, how to plant the seed and so forth. Great for GPS standard and five e lesson plans.

[Ginny Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes finding a great book is not an accident. I read about this book on someone else's Feed Me Books Friday post (was it yours?) and my daughters loved it! A little boy and his dad plant sunflower seeds in a circle to create a sunflower house. All his friends love playing in this unique playhouse, but then...fall comes, and the sunflowers start to die. How can this story have a happy ending? Don't worry, it does!

[Kandice Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a little boy planting sunflowers. He tells each step he takes to plant his flowers. The author follows him in his sunflower journey. He plays in his flowers with his friends. When the sunflowers all begin to die he takes the seeds from the flowers and spreads them everywhere. The boy and his friends do this to have a lot of sunflowers grow next summer. This is a good read for students in a classroom. It teaches them about planting a sun flower.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this book for my daughter for her 1st birthday...she didn't enjoy it as much as she does now that she is almost 3. It is really cute and fun to read about the "Sunflower House" in rhyme from the beginning of seeds to when they over grow and die and they gather the seeds to replant again. A good book about things coming full circle.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers, so I enjoyed this book a lot! I like that the father encouraged imagination in planting the sunflower seeds in a circle, and that the children expanded their own imaginations in while playing in their "sunflower house." There's also a seasonal "circle of life" message here. Another nice one by Eve Bunting.

[Karen Dransfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story all about a young boy planting some sunflower seeds with his family and creating a shady tent/house shape he can play in over the seasons. It would be a great story to share if you were planting some seeds with kids. I was looking for some specific "sunflower/orange" type stories for an art project and this will be super.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eve Bunting has done it again! I never thought of making a house (we used to call them "forts" when I was a kid) out of sunflowers. In this story told in verse, Bunting illustrates the life cycle of the sunflower. Made me want to go out and plant some myself!

[Raven Grider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sunflower house would be a great book to read during spring! The book is informational, but the illustrations are vivid and lively. I would use this story for rhyming, learning to plant a flower, and for facts about spring.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boy plants a bunch of sunflower seeds in a big circle. When they grow into huge plants, the boy and his friends play in it all summer long. At the end of summer, they keep seeds to grow another sunflower house next year.

Good for preschool storytimes.

[n · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book engages with the stages of plant growth. I suppose it's functional in those aspects. It's not overwhelmingly interesting (or so my students have told me, since this isn't aimed at me -- I found it boring).

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the summer, a child plants a ring of sunflowers. As they grow, they create a kids-only space that can be anything.

At the end of the year they die, but the kids collect the seeds so that they each can have a sunflower house the next year.

[Katey (Kaje) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really great for my class of Kindergarteners. They know I adore sunflowers and we're learning about flowers in science. Our hamster died, also, and this book tackles inevitable death in a lovely way.

[Taryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It captured our imaginations (my girls are 8.5yo and 6yo (and 2yo and 2mos but they didn't read it)). It captures summer, and family, and the miracle of plants growing.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story of the fun of growing Sunflowers. From the beginning seed, to them growing tall then the large sunflower heads!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read-Aloud Revival recommendation for May picture books. Makes me want to grow a sunflower house! This book is both practical (how nature works) as well as imaginative. Super cool.

[Bonnie Tesch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked everything about this except the actual text. It was well illustrated, a decent story, and just really clunkily worded. I don't know why it's as popular as it is.

[Kaitlin Niedert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a little boy who plants sunflowers and waits for them to grow and it eventually does and finds great joy. Eventually the sunflowers have to die, but the children eventually realize they can save the seeds from this years flower to plant for next year! This is a great book about sunflowers and is for upper elementary.

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kid plants a circle of sunflowers and it forms a nice play area for him and his friends. They play jungle and fort. Then it starts falling apart in Autumn. They collect seeds to plant again next year.

[Sydney M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sunflower House
This book is about children who plant sunflowers. The sunflowers grow so big it creates a house. Three friends join together in the house and put their imaginations to work. After the summer the sunflowers fall and the kids gather the seeds to save for next spring.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book definitely makes me want to delve into more gardening. When a little boy plants a ring of sunflowers and plays inside, I imagine how awesome of a fort that would be. A wonderful story for the spring time and for illustrating the natural life cycle of plants.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book about a boy who plants mammoth sunflowers in a large circle that grow so tall and cover the area like a house, in which he and his friends play all summer.

* library book; read at 2 years old

[Vickie McEntire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sunflower House by Eve Bunting is a great outdoorsy book about the circle of life. The lyrical rhyming text is matched by gorgeous illustrations. My favorite line, "It's neat to think when something's gone a part of it goes on and on."

[Melissa B · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are going to try this next year

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love the rhyme scheme, but the pictures are great, and it could be a fun long-term project for kids.

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

These children had a lot more luck with their sunflowers than I did. Another collaboration with Hewitt, who has a child here with more than a passing resemblance to the child of Flower Garden. Gardening is great for learning about the great wheel of life: "It's neat to think when something's gone / a part of it goes on and on".