Eve Bunting stands as a towering figure in the realm of children's literature today, celebrated for her remarkable productivity and boundless versatility. Her journey as an author began in her forties, yet she has since penned over a hundred books that captivate audiences from preschoolers to young adults. Her novels for young adults courageously explore sensitive and pressing issues of our times, such as alcoholism, sexual dynamics, and the heartrending subject of teenage suicide. Beneath her engaging narratives, one often uncovers subtle strands of traditional moral values.

Born Anne Evelyn Bolton in 1928, Bunting's origins trace back to Maghera, County Derry, Northern Ireland, where her parents also hailed from. Her father, a postmaster and merchant, enjoyed a reputation of affluence by the standards of their village. At nine, she was sent to a boarding school in Belfast, where she fostered a lasting passion for books and the art of reading. Upon graduating from Methodist College in Belfast in 1945, she pursued further studies at Queens University for two years. It was there that she crossed paths with Edward Bunting, whom she married in 1951.

New Beginnings in America

In 1960, Bunting and her husband embarked on a new adventure, relocating to the United States with their three children, comprising two sons and a daughter. Initially settling in San Francisco, the family eventually made Pasadena their home, where they remain to this day.

A Classic Approach to Storytelling

Despite her prodigious output, Bunting shuns the conveniences of modern technology, choosing to embrace the traditional method of writing with pencil and paper. Every day, she dedicates four to five hours to crafting her novels in her home's library, first sketching her ideas on paper before transferring them to a typewriter. Her process concludes with reading the manuscript aloud into a tape recorder, allowing her to identify and refine any awkward passages.

The Spark of Inspiration

Bunting's foray into writing commenced when her children were navigating high school and college. She enrolled in a writing course at a local college, where she discovered Ginn Publishing Company's search for picture book authors. Her submission—a manuscript about the clever Irish giant Finn McCool and his triumph over Culcullan, the fearsome Scottish giant—was accepted. As she recounts, this marked the beginning of her exhilarating journey in writing.

According to Bunting, a significant portion of her narrative inspirations—ninety percent, to be exact—stems from various newspapers and periodicals, while the remaining ten percent comes from observing the world around her. This connection to current events imbues her stories with realistic, contemporary themes and characters. She writes with an unflinching honesty, avoiding few subjects. Despite this, in her works, protagonists steer clear of drugs and sexual content, even as "hormones run rampant." Instead, her characters maintain their moral compass, faced with challenging decisions. The message isn't overt or didactic, yet it's unmistakably conveyed through her stories of young heroes and heroines rising to make wise choices.

Even after crafting over a hundred tales, Bunting shows no signs of slowing her creative pace. Her seemingly inexhaustible reservoir of stories continues to delight her ever-growing base of fans.