Customer Reviews

The Banshee

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

 

 

I'll be honest: I checked out The Banshee purely because of the peacock feather on the cover. We still have a jar full of them on our mantle, leftovers from our wedding and matching its colors.

While my toddler son did not deign to read the book along with me, he did get into the, er, spirit of the story by running around me shrieking gleefully. The Banshee tells of a young boy who fears that a banshee might be crying outside his house. Acting bravely despite his fear, the boy takes his best thing as an offering in the hope that he might find the banshee and buy back the life of his loved one with the sacrifice of his treasure. The lovely illustrations by Emily Arnold McCully reminded me of how dark and terrifying our yard seemed at night when I was a kid. It was so easy to imagine all sorts of terrors lurking. I'm not sure if I'd have had the guts to go out there alone to meet a banshee or the heart to give up my best thing, but books give us a chance to be vicariously daring.

Eve Bunting's THE BANSHEE receives fine appealing drawings by Caldecott medalist Emily Arnold McCully as it tells of Terry, who is half asleep when he hears the wailing and falling of the banshee. He wonders why the Irish legend would come to his house, and decides to confront her. A fine scary story evolves.

Not exactly what I was expecting. Found it grade wise too young for my grandchildren. I donated the book to the nearby grade school library.

My son brought this book home from the school library today. He is in Kindergarten and is an accelerated reader. This book terrified him! This is not an approriate book for any child let alone children ages 4-8. The author even went on to describe how someone "wet himself" from fear. I am outraged by this book and even more so with the public eduation system for this book even being in my house.