Customer Reviews

The Sunflower Parable: Special 10th Anniversary Edition (Parable Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is very inspirational. It teaches children about hard work, patience, sharing, and God's unconditional love. The child in this story spends time with his father learning so much more than about planting sunflowers. It shows how very simple daily tasks can be used to encourage our children. This is a wonderful book.

I have to admit that I wasn't sure what to expect when I first read the title: The Sunflower Parable. First of all, I love sunflowers! They're fun to plant, exciting to watch as they grow, and it's amazing seeing them turn their head to follow the sun. But, how could one imagine a parable coming from something so ordinary. Something so simple. Liz Curtis Higgs has done just that! What a wonderfully clever way to explain our Father's garden and the process of spreading His message to our friends, neighbors, and people all over the world!
On every page I found darling and child-friendly illustrations and even a Bible verse that perfectly corresponded with the words on the page. I whole-heartily recommend this wonderful book for children between the ages of 3-7 and for the young at heart.

I read this book every Summer to my children (and many times in between) to inspire them with our own Summer planting efforts. I never tire of reading it and they enjoy it too. I especially like the scripture references included on every page. I look forward to completing my collection of these books.

This is a good story but it's very wordy. Then again, I have a toddler... anyway, it would probably be better for an older child.

There are bible verses on every page that relate to the story as it moves along.

I love this book because it has scripture from the bible on each page that goes along with the story. We should start early teaching our children to read God's word and know what it says.
There is also a great cardboard-page version that is good for children under 2.

The Sunflower Parable, written by Liz Curtis Higgs and illustrated by Nancy Munger, tells the story of Logan, who lives on a farm. He wants to grow the tallest plants in the garden, taller than his brother's corn and taller than his sister's hollyhocks. He chooses sunflowers, hoping they will grow all the way to heaven. When the plants start to die in the fall, Logan is very disappointed. But he learns a lesson about the joys of growing things and about God's gift - seeds. Logan's sunflower seeds will provide seeds to feed the birds, seeds to feed people, and seeds to grow more plants next year.

The bright, colorful illustrations blend perfectly with the lively, colorful story line. Bible verses scattered throughout the text tie a simple gardening story to the truth and beauty of God's plan for caring for all his creatures, both animals and humans.

What I like: I liked the whole book. The story was written well, the illustrations are wonderful, and the Bible verses help youngsters (and adults, too!) relate the story to our own lives.

What I dislike: Nothing.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

Age Appeal: 3 - 7.
Christine M. Irvin - Christian Children's Book Review

This book along with all in this series are the most wonderful childhood and even grown up books to have. I have read them to my boys each season of their lives since they were babies. Now at age 18 and 10, they still make sure we get them out and read them. Each time we seem to receive a new message from God.

This is a beautiful book. The story is wonderful and the illustrations are very sweet. I grew up on a farm where sunflowers were grown and I bought this for my young children. They love it. The book also has a great message interwoven with scripture. The scripture passages are at the bottom of the page so you can include them whenever you want to interject God's message to reinforce the overall theme. Very nice!

The Amazon blurb about this book should warn that this is not simply about a boy gardening with his family, and the value of planting seeds in the hearts of his friends and neighbors, but rather the book contains so many quotes from the Christian Bible on page after page that it isn't a book you could give as a gift to a child who is Jewish, or Muslim, or from a family that isn't highly religious. It's not that the quotes themselves are objectionable, but rather that this lovely story isn't allowed to stand on its own.
This isn't really a gardening with family is wonderful book, but rather a story used as an opportunity to share Christian scripture.