Eve Bunting is the author of over 150 books for children and young adults. Her versatility and her skill at writing about the complex issues that many families face, make her books appealing to all ages. She has won numerous awards and has taught writing at the University of California, Los Angeles.
- You were born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States at the age of 30 with your husband and 3 children. How did your immigration experience shape your writing?
Immigrating to this country gave me an appreciation of what the United States has to offer. Some of the picture books I've done such as A Picnic in October, How Many Days to America and Dreaming of America reflect that experience and the joys and difficulties that come with it.
- The Wall, The Wednesday Surprise, The Happy Funeral, A Picnic in October, The Sunshine Home, On Call Back Mountain, So Far from the Sea, A Day's Work, and Summer Wheels are stories of intergenerational relationships. How did your relationship with your parents and grandparents influence the stories you have created?
My love of books and reading came, I believe from the influence of my parents. My father read poetry to me, always telling me to listen for the beauty of the words as well as their meaning. My mother organized a lending library out of our own home because there wasn't one in the little town we lived in.
- What is the message you are trying to impart to children and adults when you write stories with an intergenerational theme?
I've noticed that I do have a lot of grandparents in my stories nowadays. Could that be because I'm a doting Grandma now myself? I actually never knew my own grandparents. They died when I was very young and I always felt that gap in my life. Now I try to be the best grandma ever to my four (for now) granddaughters. In my books I want to always show the importance of the family.
- In The Wednesday Surprise, The Sunshine Home, and A Day's Work, the children take on the role on an adult. In many of your stories, you write about relevant, complex themes, told through the voices of children. How are you able to write so poignantly and perceptively about children facing tough issues within their families and with their peers?
I'm not sure how I am able to write about children facing tough issues. When I get a story idea it is often because I've read or heard or learned of some injustice. Because my main character will always be a child, that child has to face up to those problems I've placed in front of him...illiteracy, old age coming, prejudice, dishonesty. Kids can and do face up to these issues in real life. Perhaps, with my words, I can reinforce caring values.
- The Wall is a beautiful story about a boy and his dad, looking for his grandfather's name on the Vietnam War Memorial. How did you decide to write that story?
I had not been to visit the Vietnam Memorial when I wrote The Wall. But I'd read so much about it and seen many television programs that showed the meaning of that wall. Those stories broke my heart and made me realize again the futility of war. That is something I want all children to understand.
- In Summer Wheels, the themes of love, mercy, courage and forgiveness are especially evident. Was the "Bicycle Man" based on a personal acquaintance? How do you come to create most of the characters you write about?
I had read in my newspaper about an elderly gentleman who fixed up old bicycles and loaned them out to poor children. I loved him. I knew him though we'd never met. I put him in a story.
- The books you write and the artists that illustrate them are extremely versatile. How do you collaborate with the illustrator?
It's a sad fact that authors and illustrators do not collaborate. Usually we don't even know each other! I try to write visually and to trust the publisher to find the perfect artist to match my words. It's pretty scary sometimes...and the finished book never looks quite the way I'd imagined. But often it's better!
- You have been writing for over thirty years. In your estimation, are the issues children face today, more difficult or complex than they were when you started writing?
I don't really think the issues children face today are more complex or different. Of course there is that big, horrible drug problem now but apart from that I don't see much change. I think that perhaps we are more willing to look at the issues more honestly and try to address them.
- You started writing as an adult. How do you encourage children to "write to publish" if they or the adults around them think they have a gift for storytelling or writing?
I was indeed an adult when I started writing...middle-aged in fact. Yikes! And that was thirty years ago! I love to hear of children writing. I did. If they have stories that are publishable, or even if they only think they are, they should send them to a children's magazine such as Stone Soup. It would be important to state the age of the author and just a sentence or two [of] background. And be persistent. Not everything gets published the first time out or even the second. I get lots of fan mail...funny, sad, intuitive, and smart. I know lots of children have writing potential. Good luck to them. And don't forget to send a stamped, self-addressed envelope!
We are honored to have had the opportunity to interview Eve Bunting. The themes of her books encourage compassion and charity in children. Thank you Eve for your caring spirit!
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