Tag Steve McCarthy

After

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After
Pádraig Kenny
Walker Books

“Tell me agin how the world ended.” So says Jen as the story begins; this is something her father has talked of with her many times already. Now the two are walking towards the old city hoping to find food and other useful supplies. Once again Father explains how humans destroyed the world little by little, first its habitats, followed by The Flood that wiped out many of their own kind.

In the city their search of the supermarket shelves yields nothing, but the library has lots of books and Jen is fascinated by an old tablet bearing the label Seacroft Technologies. Then following an encounter with a family to whom they give all they have in the way of food and medicines, Father declares that they should find somewhere to spend the night; this they do in a deserted hotel. Come sunrise they leave, find something for Jen to eat in another supermarket and then proceed to walk, passing a number of wrecked robots including one resembling a massive scorpion. By evening they reach the edge of a forest.

As they sit together Jen notices a flickering in the darkness and urges Father to investigate. The following morning they take a detour despite Father’s concerns that they might encounter people, perhaps not friendly ones. His prediction is correct and they come upon a small community, which to Jen’s delight, seem welcoming. Among them is a boy around her age, so Jen is even more eager to join them. Father though must keep his true existence – an autonomous robot, with the appearance of a human – secret from these clearly technophobic Flood survivors. If not, what will happen?

Jen and Father are not related but have formed a very close bond even though the latter is programmed to be devoid of emotions and relies on a childcare book for his parenting. So when Father’s secrets start to unravel, Jen faces an impossible decision: Father or community? And what of that holiday camp place she’d read about in a brochure a while back?

With occasional illustrations by Steve McCarthy, this is another brilliant, entirely credible story set in a Dystopian future by the author of Stitch that is an exploration of what it means to be human; in addition however, Pádraig Kenny explores the role of AI and a possible horrendous outcome of human’s ever increasing reliance on technology.

I wonder just how far child readers think we humans should go in our never-ceasing endeavours to have a better life.

Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love

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Ten-Word Tiny Tales of Love
Joseph Coelho (and 21 illustrator friends)
 Walker Books

This is former children’s laureate Joseph Coelho’s second Ten-Word Tiny Tales offering, this one having a unifying theme – love – and in an introduction, Joseph tells readers how the tiny tales came about.
Each of the tales is moving in its own special way; you will find great sadness, tender parental and sibling love, spookiness, the fantastical, the humorous and more.

Coming from all over the world, each one of the talented artists has created an equally special, very different scene, thus making every turn of the page a verbal and a visual delight.

We see enigmatic and literal interpretations as well as ambiguity: there is love for such diverse things as a bike, baby birds and a brother,

but in every case the intention is to create a world – a space of awareness – that will spark the reader’s imagination.

To facilitate this, Joseph offers some story writing prompts in the final two spreads.
Altogether a treasure trove that holds within, a wealth of possibilities for creativity both in the classroom and at home.

Beanie the Bansheenie

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Beanie the Bansheenie
Eoin Colfer and Steve McCarthy
Walker Books

Classic Irish folklore receives a modern twist in this wondrous tale.
‘Everybody in Ireland knows that banshees are supernatural harbingers of doom.’ Called ‘bansheenies’ when young, these little beings develop in pods that grow on the underside of a fairy bridge and when each pod becomes transparent the bansheenie will bond with the first human they see. One day though, now knowing everything about their person including when they will die, the bansheenie’s job is to appear in front of their person and ‘howl the banshee’s howl at them.’ This allows the specific person to put things right with anyone they need to and to bid loved ones farewell.

The Beanie from this story sadly has a problem; she’s knocked from her pod into the water during that vital bonding phase and thus cannot bond with Rose, her human, and absorb the information needed. Beanie does however make friends with the fish but then realises that she needs to find out more information about Rose. Months pass during which Beanie gradually forms a deep connection with the girl

but also discovers from the fish that an imminent wild storm will destroy Rose and her family’s cottage.

Can she warn her of her family’s fate and help them escape a tragic death? If so, what will be the outcome?

Steve McCarthy’s illustrations predominantly executed using a Celtic green palette, are magical in the manner in which they complement Eoin Colfer’s text and move the narrative forwards to its glorious ending.

An enthralling read for anyone from around seven or eight, adults included.