Olivier Dunrea

A little banshee named Ravena finds herself out of step with the rest of her family in this sweetly spooky picture-book from author/illustrator Olivier Dunrea. All of the other Ravenlocks liked to wail, wash their laundry and look at their reflections in the nearby rock pool—none of which appealed to Ravena. So one night she packed her few belongings and set out to find a new home, experiencing a few missteps—trying to enter an occupied trow-wife hole, being grabbed by a bogtrotter while resting against a standing stone—before she finally found what she was looking for, in an abandoned cairn...

Published in 1984, Ravena was (according to the rear dust-jacket blurb) supposed to be the first of four picture-books devoted to the adventures of the eponymous banshee. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the subsequent three titles were every published, which is rather disappointing, as banshee-focused picture-books are not that common. In any case, I found the story engaging, and the artwork, done in muted and sepia tones, with the occasional colorful flourish, quite cute. I don't know that I was as impressed by this one as I'd hoped to be given the subject matter, but I enjoyed it enough that I regret the other three books about the character were never produced. The author blurb on the rear dust-jacket flap mentions research into Scottish prehistory and folklore, which rather surprised me, as I associate banshees more with Ireland than Scotland, but that is no doubt a limitation of my knowledge. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for stories featuring banshees, and some of the artifacts—stand stones, cairns, fairy mounds—of Celtic prehistory.… (more)