This Is the Sunflower [Hardcover]

Lola M. Schaefer (Author), Donald Crews (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2000 | Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

First there is a sunflower.

Seasons pass ... and soon there is a patch of sunflowers.

Budding young gardeners will discover that what makes this happen is not magic - but is most definitely magical.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K-There are many picture books about sunflowers, but this fine, new one doesn't resemble any of them. It begins with a full bloom: "This is the sunflower,/tall and bright,/that stands in my garden/day and night." The cumulative rhyme continues ? la "The House That Jack Built." The birds come and eat some seeds and spill others, the rain and sun make the seeds sprout, and by the end of the book, "a patch of sunflowers,/tall and bright,/stands in my garden/day and night." Crews's watercolor illustrations combine realism and imagination to show the interaction of the plant, the birds, and the weather. Sometimes colorful silhouettes of birds fly in winding paths of thickened brush strokes. On one double-page spread, the text is ringed by 17 heads and beaks of different birds, all messily cracking sunflower seeds. This illustration is repeated on the last page, labeled with the name of each bird and a paragraph of facts about the flowers. A simple, elegant book, filled with a little information and a lot of pleasure.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In the cumulative tradition of "This Is the House that Jack Built," this gorgeously illustrated poem celebrates a sunflower's life cycle. In a see-saw rhythm, rhymed lines describe the seeds' path from blossom to bird, then back to the ground, where sun and rain turn seeds to sprouts, and the cycle begins again. It's the artwork that turns this standard, pleasing ecological subject into a beautiful, noteworthy title. The velvety watercolors are clearly defined and saturated with color: the vibrant, full-page sunflower blossoms nearly hum with growth, while handsome, stylishly detailed birds become sweeping banners of color when they take flight. This is perfect for story hours; also recommend it to budding ornithologists, who will appreciate the illustrated key identifying the birds pictured in the text. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1st edition (April 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688164137
• ISBN-13: 978-0688164133
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #637,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read-aloud science book for early grades!, July 3, 2000

By 

E. Jones (Golden, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Is the Sunflower (Hardcover)

A wonderful read-aloud book for Pre-school through grade 2. Children love the rhyming repetitive verse and with the bold, beautiful illustrations by Donald Crews it will keep an entire classroom's attention. Very good book for a science unit on seeds. It's hard to find fun things to compliment a lesson on seeds, but this book fills that gap. Every elementary school library should have this book in their collection.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story for children, April 3, 2011

By 

SAM - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This Is the Sunflower (Hardcover)

My daughter and I both enjoy this book very much. I have been reading it to her since she was 3 years old, and we still enjoy it just as much as the first time we read it. Many nights we end up singing the story. She also enjoys looking at the different birds at the back of the book. She will make me tell her all their names, and She picks out her favorite, which is different every time. I highly recommend this book to anyone with children.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book for the nature-minded child, January 8, 2010

By 

Kathryn - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Is the Sunflower (Hardcover)

Very well-written book that covers the life cycle of a plant. The repetition is helpful for children (though a tad monotonous for the reader if it's been a long day already). It tells a valuable lesson, too: When the sunflower dies the book takes on somber tone, but then the reader sees all the beautiful new sunflowers that came from the seeds of the previous one. This lesson could be interpreted in so many different ways -- all of them lovely.