Eve Bunting - 1928
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San Pedro High School in San Pedro, California
I. Biography Eve Bunting was born in her house in a little town called Magdera in the beautiful country of Ireland. It seemed to be a
tradition to be born in that house, especially since both her father and her grandfather were born in that same house. Bunting grew up in an atmosphere of
storytelling. In Ireland, there were storytellers who went from house to house telling old Irish folktales. These people were called Sanachies. Bunting called herself a Sanachie.
Bunting went to boarding school in Belfast, Ireland, when she was seven years old. She remembers sharing scary stories at night in her dormitory with her 12 roommates. When
she came home from school for the holidays, she read constantly. This is partly because it rained so much in Ireland. Bunting's parents read to her too. Bunting's father read her poetry out loud. Poetry was his favorite.
II. Literary Works Bunting's first book, The Two Giants, was published in 1972. It is about an Irish man named Finn McCool. She wrote that story mainly because she loves giants and also
because she loves Ireland. Bunting has since then written more than 150 books. She has written everything from young adult books to picture books.
Bunting and her husband Ed, who happened to also love books, moved to California in 1958 along with their three children: Christine, Sloan, and Glenn. They came to California
with no money and no work but Bunting and her husband had a feeling that California was the land of opportunity for them. Bunting began to write when her children were all in
school. She enrolled in a writing class at a local college and has been writing ever since. There was a little attic-like room in Bunting's house which she eventually took over as a room in which she wrote.
Bunting writes for all ages from pre-school level to young adult novels. Bunting loves writing picture books. Bunting enjoys writing books that make the readers ask questions. Finding ideas to write about is easy for Bunting.
Bunting writes her stories out in a notebook first. A small notebook and a pencil are very easy to be carried around. Bunting has written in several places: dentists' offices, her car
during a traffic jam, and even on a floating chair in her swimming pool just to name a few. Sometimes when she would get an idea and not have her notebook, Bunting would find
just about anything to write on such as a program from a play, a napkin, and even a barf bag on an airplane. Most of Bunting's ideas come from interesting things that she has read in newspapers, magazines, or books.
In addition to Bunting's writing career, she has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles. Bunting is currently a member of the board of directors for The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and
The Writer magazine. III. Awards and Honors Bunting's many awards include two California Young Readers Medals and similar awards
from twenty-eight other states. She has been the recipient of the Golden Kite Award, given by the Society of Children's Books and Illustrators. Bunting has also received the
Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award, and the PEN Los Angeles Center Literary Award for special achievement in children's literature.
She has also been awarded with the Edgar Award, which is given by the Mystery Writers of America. Eve's book Dandelions received the School Library Journal Best Book of the
Year Award, the IRA Teachers' Choice Award, and was an American Bookseller pick of the lists. Her book Smoky Night won the Caldecott Award, and ALA Notable, School Library Journal
Best Book of the Year Award, and a Parents' Choice Award. Bunting received a "Heal the World Award" for her book Fly Away Home. Bunting was awarded the 1997
Regina Medal, given by the Catholic Library Association for Continued distinguished contribution to children's literature. Bunting was a featured panelist speaker at the Virginia Hamilton Conference in 1998.
IV. More about Bunting's Works Some of Eve Bunting's books are pure fun and joy such as Sunflower House, Scary, Dog Detective, and Ducky
, which happens to be about a plastic yellow duck. Some books by Bunting are what she calls "tender topics" about issues such as poverty, racism, war, and other social problems.
Bunting feels that these specific topics seem to get the most attention from readers. Bunting's books are on many subjects. Fly Away Home is about homelessness. The Blue and the Gray
takes a modern-day look at a Civil War battlefield. Market Day is based in the Irish village of Magdera where Eve was born. Smoky Night is about the Los Angeles riots.
Bunting wondered what it would be like to be a child during the Los Angeles riots so that's how Smoky Night came about. In this book, Bunting tries to show something important:
"If people get to know each other, they may like each other. And then they won't need to fight." When Bunting read about a beautiful oak tree in Texas that was poisoned and died, she wrote Someday a Tree
. One time Eve read a book about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The pictures of visitors crying as they left flowers and other similar objects made Bunting cry. Then she wrote a picture book called
The Wall. Bunting also wrote a few non-fiction books about whales and sharks for Sea World in San Diego. V. Recent Work Two of Bunting's most recent books are I am the Mummy HEB-NEFERT and
SOS Titanic. I am the Mummy HEB-NEFERT is a picture book for older children. Heb-Nefert, which means "beautiful dancer," tells the story of a mummy's life and death. Bunting was aboard
a sinking ship before, which inspired her to write SOS Titanic. This book was also inspired by Bunting's visit to the Belfast Museum of Transport. A book by Eve Bunting due out in Spring 1999 is On Call Back Mountain
. This book is a story about two boys who live with their parents at the foot of a mountain with a fire tower and a friend who returns each summer to lookout for the tower. Many more books are also expected in the near future
from Eve Bunting. Eve now happily lives with her husband in Pasadena, California. All of her children moved away and are now on their own. Bunting is still continuing to write and plans to write many
more books for all of her readers. VI. Sources Bunting, Eve. Once Upon a Time. Richard C. Owen Publishers, Inc., 1995.
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This essay was submitted by a student of Kathy Honda Stein, a teacher at San Pedro High School in San Pedro, California.