Walking to School

Walking to School
A Story From Northern Ireland

by Eve Bunting
illustrated by Michael Dooling

This powerful picture book describes the experiences of a young Catholic girl who must walk through Protestant protests on her way to school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is frightened by the escalating violence, and feels upset about the threatening words her uncle uses when talking about Protestants.

Bunting effectively captures the tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, and offers a glimmer of hope as two young girls reach across these religious boundaries and express for a brief moment their frustrations with the adults in their lives that place them in such a difficult position. I enjoyed this book, and I think it could be used with students to begin exploring issues of racism and discrimination.

Michael Dooling's oil on canvas illustrations effectively portray the scenes of a tense Ireland, and a worried little girl.

The Author's notes at the end of the book also point out that this story could have easily been written about a Protestant child walking through "Catholic territory." Bunting points out that extremists on both sides keep the conflict in Ireland alive.