Customer Reviews

Sunflower Houses : Inspiration from the Garden - A Book for Children and Their Grown-Ups

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Sharon Lovejoy's "Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots" has the a lot of the ideas that are in "Sunflower Houses". It's almost as if she wrote "Sunflower Houses" first, thought of better ways to illustrate and do the gardening plans, and then wrote "Roots, Shoots..." (I didn't check the publishing dates - so maybe this is true?)

I bought both of these books through Amazon, and got "Roots..." first. It's a better book, with amazing illustrations. I thought "Sunflower Houses" would be just as good but when it came I was disappointed. It is really a repeat of much of the same stuff with less illustrations, and actually a lot less ideas. Illustrations are still really nice, and if you don't have the other book, you will like this one.

(...)

How many of us take our gardens and nature for granted? I certainly do when I get caught up in day-to-day survival mode. I discovered Sunflower Houses almost a decade ago when my sisters introduced me to a store called Heart's Ease in Cambria, California, which was owned at the time by Sharon Lovejoy. It wasn't long thereafter that I invited Sharon to be my guest on television. A faerie tea party was the theme of the segment. I was captivated by Sharon's ideas and views of the garden - transforming acorn tops, leaves, walnut shells and Japanese lanterns into the perfect faerie tea party. Vivid childhood memories came flooding back to me of blowing dandelions to the wind, climbing trees, rolling on the lawn, trying to catch butterflies and playing Red Light Green Light and Mother May I.

As I thumb through this 10th reprint of Sunflower Houses, I am reminded of the magic right outside our doors. In Sharon's words, "May you always remember that the most joyous and important experiences in life are not to be bought, but grown and nurtured in our homes and gardens." Winter, spring, summer or fall, the outdoors hold grand adventures for us! -Tiffany Windsor--

Childhood is captured in this wonderful little book by Sharon Lovejoy. There are few books that make it into my "Magical Books" category, but this book by Sharon fits the bill. If you want to revisit childhood, or create a wonderful experience with your child or grandchild, this book is a must have.

If you like to garden or like to explore nature, have a child in your life you'd like to share that with, and like things that are child-like, this is a good book to have. It teaches you things like how to make clover chains and hollyhock dolls, it tells you when certain flowers bloom, like Four O'Clocks blooming at four o'clock. Or moonflowers, which bloom, big and white, in the light of the moon. The book is filled with wonderful illustrations to help you recreate magical childhood moments with your children or grandchildren.

Many adults experienced or remember those fun little things, but many of those things that we did as children are being lost, and it's amazing that a lot of kids these days have never done things like making a clover chain/necklace/bracelet. It's as if a part of childhood heritage is being lost. This is a fun book to share if, like me, you want to pass some of that heritage on to your children.

Fifteen years ago, I found this book and used it as a guide for my parent volunteer project as garden coordinator at Fairfield School in Davis, California. My own 5 year old and his classmates planted a garden. Besides their choices for their individual little plots on raised rows, we planted the Sunflower House, a gourd teepee, and a corn spiral. By May, they could put little blue chairs inside the sunflower house. Next fall, they had corn for their harvest festival and gourds for their Native American crafts project, but we had moved on to Berkeley. Mostly, my own high school chemistry students have been trapped inside dark buildings for all these years since, but I still think about the primary graders in their garden.

Educators involved in the "No Child Left Inside" movement, at any grade level, should get this book, now that we are raising the insurrectionary banner of nature education for all children.

Incredible! I loved it from start to finish. Great ideas for a gardening Grandmother to share the garden with her grandchildren. I especially liked the personal history aspect of each idea.

I am in love with Sharon Lovejoy's books. I highly recommend them all.

These are a collection of pretend-play ideas, outdoor discoveries, woodsy crafts, old fashioned games, and even some recipes that all help us meditate upon the forgotten luxury of simple living.

Many of the activities guide you through the types of outdoor play you may have long forgotten since becoming a curmudgeonly old adult. Lovejoy makes fairies come alive again and mudpies seem like culinary masterpieces.

There are various suggestions about how to create a cozy, child-friendly oasis within your home - stashing dress up clothes in a large trunk, keeping a large basket full of books in every room, bringing nature indoors.

The illustrations throughout these books are so charming - watercolor sketches reminiscent of Beatrix Potter, which is perfectly suited to the content of the books.

Visit my parenting blog for more great book recommendations similar to this one. [...]

This book is an absolute treasure. I'm new to gardening, but desperately want to experience the joy of growing things and to share that joy with my children. Looking through this book has made me giddy. An edible teepee? So, so wonderful!!!

What a joy it is to share this book with my little girl who loves to dig in the earth discovering the miracle of life. It is a darling book for anyone who needs a quick idea to those who have a yard to fill.

I read an article in a magazine about this author and ordered 3 of her books to keep and share with friends, they had great ideas for things to do with our grandkids.

I love this book! I purchased this copy for a gift. I bought my copy about 10 years ago and spent many happy hours with my grandchildren exploring all the fun ideas Sharon Lovejoy provides. My granddaughter still loves telling about the pansy and so many other things in the book.But the real treasure is the sunflower house. Since I didn't think I could take that job on,I created our own sunflower house by clearing out the "inside" of a clump of volunteer shrubs and that became our house. What great memories this book gave us.