Beanie the Bansheenie

Eoin Colfer's 'Beanie the Bansheenie' is a captivating long-form picture book that reimagines Irish folklore with a heartwarming twist. It introduces Beanie, a bansheenie whose traditional role is to herald death, but who chooses instead to protect her human, Rose. The story beautifully explores themes of love, friendship, perseverance, and the courage to defy expectations, as Beanie taps into the natural world's hidden powers to forge a new path. With a welcoming narrative voice and striking Celtic-inspired illustrations, this book offers an immersive and emotional experience for children aged 4-11, prompting discussions about destiny, kindness, and standing up for what's right.

A best-selling author and an award-winning illustrator join forces in a long-form picture book that turns a familiar myth of Irish folklore into a universal story of love, perseverance, and friendship against all odds. Banshees are well known to most of us as supernatural Irish harbingers of doom. But not many know that they grow on the prickly gorse bush inside little pods, and that the sole job of a baby banshee, or "bansheenie," is to bond with a human and know all there is to know about that person, including when they're destined to breathe their last breath. One bansheenie named Beanie, however, is no ordinary herald of death. When she sees her person, a little girl named Rose, she decides to change both their fates--and instead of delivering bad news, protect Rose and her family. And when her banshee's howl won't work, she must draw power and strength from the ancient secrets and hidden networks of the natural world to create a new sound, a new way of being in the world, that will change everything. Melding Eoin Colfer's welcoming voice and Steve McCarthy's striking Celtic imagery, Beanie the Bansheenie is a gloriously immersive, detailed, and emotional storytelling experience.