Why Sharing Books is Great

A Solution for a Sad Boy

Proud B with his blooms

Back in April, B got a little kit from the library for earth day to grow a sunflower. They packaged together a repurposed water bottle, some soil, and two sunflower seeds. We started them on the kitchen counter, and when they were tall enough to transplant, moved them to a pot on the patio. He was so enamored by their rapid growth that we added a few more seeds to the pot to see how fast they’d catch up. When his sunflowers bloomed, he was delighted. But now that the first planted have begun to wilt, he is distressed. The fragility of life and the passage of seasons are hard cognitive concepts for preschoolers (and their mommies). A book comes to my rescue again! And this time, it is thanks to all the great sharing and recommendations that flow among my book-loving blog pals.


Blog + Library = Perfect Book

A couple weeks ago, Ginny Marie shared Eve Bunting’s Sunflower House over at her blog, Lemon Drop Pie. I was attracted to it simply because of the sunflowers on our patio, so I put it on the request list from the library. It arrived just in time for the wilting incident. A few days ago, we went to play out back and B discovered the leaves were drooping and turning brown on his two tallest sunflowers. I tried to explain that they couldn’t last after the summer, and that we could plant more, but he was hardly placated. So that afternoon at naptime I retrieved Sunflower House from the library bag and we sat down to check it out together. Bunting’s tells the story of another boy’s sunflower garden in soft, conversational text that rhymes without becoming too bouncy. The boy and his father plant sunflower seeds in a circle, and he and his friends are able to enjoy the house it creates all summer, pretending to be animals, having picnics, and even camping out. When the sunflowers wilt and bend, the friends attempt to fix it with string, sticks, and glue, all to no avail. Then they realize they can harvest the seeds from the puffy blooms to save for a new house next spring. My favorite line from the book: “It’s neat to think when something’s gone a part of it goes on and on.” B and I harvested a few seeds from our sunflowers, and the positive message at the end of the book was a real help to me in quelling his disappointment.


Have you ever come across the perfect book at just the right time?


Appropriate for: toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades


(I’m still on vacation, but if I have internet access, I’ll be linking up with What My Child is Reading this Week)


Come back Friday to link up your recommendations at Feed Me Books Friday!