Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Ballywhinney Girl by Eve Bunting - ADVISABLE

Bunting, Eve and Emily Arnold McCully Ballywhinney Girl. 32 pgs. Clarion Books, 2012. $16.99. PICTURE BOOK.

When Maeve and her grandpa discover a mummy preserved in a peat bog while cutting turf for their kitchen fire, a media frenzy ensues. As young Maeve learns more about the 1,000-year-old girl she helped find, she realizes that perhaps their lives weren't so different. This leads her to wonder how the girl died, and how she herself would feel if she were studied by teams of scientists, splashed across the evening news, and put on display in a museum.

Because of its discomfiting discussions of death, this beautiful picture book is fairly dark, more appropriate for older elementary students. Would make a wonderful jumping-off point for a discussion about respect for the dead or a lesson on mummies, especially since it addresses the lesser-known peat bog ones.

EL - ADVISABLE. Reviewed by: Caryn.

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