The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Bunting, Eve

Ballywhinney Girl

32 pp. | Clarion | March, 2012 | Trade ISBN 978-0-547-55843-1 $16.99

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully. Maeve's grandpa unearths a mummy--common in Ireland, where (a note says) scores of remains have been found. Maeve's uneasiness at the find turns to empathy for the long-ago girl who, like her, had blond hair. McCully's masterful pen-and-ink lines capture Maeve's feelings; watercolors evoke the lush countryside. This is a sensitive opening to the universal theme of curiosity about death.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2012