Book Reviews
Sunshine Home by Eve Bunting
Reading level: Preschool–Grade 3
At Committee for Children, we've appreciated Eve Bunting's writing for years and have referenced many of her books in our supplemental literature lists. They're the perfect complement to the SECOND STEP curriculum. These featured books depict families in transition and focus on the boys in those families adjusting to change.
About Eve Bunting
Bunting grew up as a Protestant in Northern Ireland, a country rife with violent political conflict. Witnessing the Protestant discrimination against the Catholics affected her powerfully.
Bunting's books explore homelessness, immigration, and racial conflict—topics most children's authors avoid. This choice of material seems to reflect her childhood experience. Although her fiction doesn't offer solutions to complex problems, it shows the reader how individuals can respond to these problems and illustrates decisions that can be made to help cope with difficult situations. Her plots are validating to children who have dealt with serious social problems.
Bunting clearly respects her audience and appreciates their ability to learn from the complexity of the issues she presents in her books. Her didactic approach works because she creates characters with whom children can empathize.
The Story
The story of Sunshine Home is told by Tim, a seven-year-old whose grandmother has recently broken a hip and must recover in a nursing home. When Tim and his parents go visit Grandma in Sunshine Home, Tim is puzzled by the adults' behavior. His mother uses a "bright and sparkly" voice he's never heard before, and no one discusses what everyone is thinking about: Grandma must stay in Sunshine Home rather than with Tim's family. When Tim realizes the discrepancy between the adults' emotions and actions, he helps the adults address their concerns and feelings more openly.
Sunshine Home is an empowering book for children. The reader sees that Tim plays an important role in his family as he helps them come to terms with and share their feelings about Sunshine Home.
SECOND STEP Connections
This book is a wonderful supplement to the SECOND STEP empathy and problem-solving units and is best suited to the preschool through second-grade student.
Juliet Morefield
